Self-funded Model for Community-led In-situ Conservation of Sea Turtles

In the northeast Indian Ocean region, Bangladesh's coastal area is part of a critical nesting habitat for 3 out of the world's 11 most threatened sea turtle populations. Here, the Bay of Bengal’s densely populated coast... [ view full abstract ]

In the northeast Indian Ocean region, Bangladesh's coastal area is part of a critical nesting habitat for 3 out of the world's 11 most threatened sea turtle populations. Here, the Bay of Bengal’s densely populated coast hosts the world's largest mangrove forest, longest unbroken beach, and a nationally unique coral ecosystem. But rapidly expanding coastal mega infrastructure development coupled with rising sea level are leading to unprecedented loss and degradation of sea turtle nesting habitats. In addition, the coastal fishing communities are skeptical about and estranged from top-down conservation interventions which are limited to NGO-run and poorly handled nest relocation; it adds to the woes of sea turtles in the forms of mass-death of mother turtles by entanglement in the fishing nets and very low rate of hatching success in the relocated nests. To address these challenges, national public charity 'Save Our Sea' has gathered a multi-disciplinary team of young professionals and facilitated local and urban youth groups to initiate locally led and community funded in-situ nest protection in the Saint Martin's Island in 2015-16 nesting season. It is part of a broader Participatory Action Research initiative to establish a locally managed marine area to protect the coral ecosystem, and special emphasis on species-level conservation of Eretmochelys imbricata, Lepidochelys olivacea and Chelonia mydas. Upon consensus, the local youth group declared a 1.3 kilometers stretch of beach as 'protected' and they made sure that it remains disturbance-free from tourist activities during nighttime and no nest is relocated. They are hosting the self-funded volunteer Field Assistants from universities who assist them in nest monitoring and data collection. Conservationists, fishers, and local businesses are contributing the rest of the fund. As the current season of this pilot initiative ends in April 2017, it has seen 92.65% hatching rate from in-situ nests; efforts for scaling up the initiative is underway. Also, using remote sensing data and transects the team surveyed 84 kilometers of coastline to assess the impact of and recommend the mitigation process against possible habitat loss by a under-construction coastal highway along the country's main nesting beach.