Kerala campaign to conserve marine biodiversity

The Forest Department is seeking the help of religious leaders to
conserve endangered turtles, dolphins, whale sharks and corals along
the State's 590-km coastline. Official sources said parish priests and
Imams in coastal areas would frequently highlight the need for
preserving the State's marine biodiversity at Sunday sermons and after
Friday prayers.
They would also campaign against the use of destructive methods of
fishing, such as use of depth charges. Fishermen would be told that
turtles ate jelly fish, which were harmful to them, and that coral
reefs formed natural hatcheries for fish. Official sources said the
drive was to counter the poaching and sale of endangered marine
species, chiefly in south Kerala. District Forest Officer,
Thiruvananthapuram, T. Pradeep Kumar, said Kattakada was one of the
main markets for turtle and dolphin meat in the district. In north
Kerala, only turtle eggs were poached. This year, wildlife enforcers
in the district freed two turtles and one dolphin which were
accidentally netted by fishermen. They also booked two persons on the
charge of poaching turtles.
The Forest Department has requested local bodies to erect boards
warning the public against the poaching and sale of endangered marine
species. these boards will carry the photographs of the endangered
species and will be placed at fish landing centres and markets. The
Coast Guard and the police will help the department in its
conservation drive. It has already distributed a handbook on marine
conservation to local law enforcers. The department has sought the
help of the World Wildlife Fund-India, Kerala University's Aquatic
Biology Department and People For Animals, a non-profit organisation
campaigning against cruelty to animals, to document the State's marine
biodiversity, initially along the Varkala-Pozhiyoor coastal stretch in
the district. They will identify turtle nesting sites in south Kerala.
The department is also thinking of starting a turtle hatchery. It will
seek the help of coastal eco development committees and students to
keep the State coastline garbage and pollution free.

The Hindu, July 20