A village turns turtle

A group of tourists sit at the local sarpanchs house,sipping tea. A young Australian tourist teaches a group of children Salsa steps. The turtle fest has brought an irreversible change in the village. School children have learnt the idea of conservation and follow the number of turtle hatchlings released every day. Outside the wooden houses in the village,boards hanging from tree trunks and cloth lines declare themselves Kasav Mitra friends of turtles.

Ten years ago,volunteers from Sahayadri Nisarg Mitra SNM,an organisation based in Chiplun Ratnagiri headed by Vishwas Bhau Katdhare,chanced upon the nests laid by the Olive Ridley turtles at the village shore. Gradually,beaches were identified where these turtles built nests. SNMs data was disturbing: along the 720-km coastline in Maharashtra,fishing and industrial activities had destroyed close to 35 per cent of the eggs even before they hatched. A survey revealed that in the previous four years,along the entire coastline of the state,not a single nest or turtle crawl was found during the breeding season.

The Save the Olive Ridley Turtle project was launched in 2002. Hatcheries were built at various beaches in close to 30 villages along the coast. The process of conservation involved two major steps. The first was tracing the nests on the shore. A team would begin tracing the nests in November and December. These would be replanted in a protected hatchery. The dates of replanting the nests were carefully noted and a count of the eggs kept. Once they hatched,they would be left on the beach for the turtles to walk back into the sea. Hatching continued till mid-April.

Since the launch of the project in 2002,601 nests have been protected and over 28,000 hatchlings released into the sea. Of all the villages identified,the beach at Velas saw the maximum number of nests and hence was declared the base camp for SNM.

What sustained the project and made it successful was the support from villagers. Turtle conservation has ensured a constant source of income for the village.

Snehalata Yashwant Joshi,32,is taking a nap in her house next to the SNM workstation. She doesnt mind being woken up and asked about the turtle project and the change it has brought to their lives. In her room are several new mattresses. On a piece of paper are basic questions in English and their translation in Marathithese are for us to understand what the tourists are saying, she says,offering a seat.

We bought these mattresses for the visitors who come here. Every year,more and more people come and visit us and stay with us. We charge Rs 300 a day for food and stay. No special arrangements are made for the tourists. They are expected to blend in.

We wouldnt have survived a day here without the support of villagers, says 23-year-old Sahila Kudalkar,who is in charge of the project.

The NGOs volunteer group at Velas is a mixed batch. Vaibhvi Joshi,a 14-year-old class VIII student at the local school,is the youngest volunteer. Mohan Upadhayay,who teaches at the school,is an SNM representative. Upadhayays story reflects how support from the village strengthened the movement. When SNM began work here,we didnt even know that our village hosted such a rare breed of turtles. In fact,villagers contributed to its extinction too. Today,they not only understand the need to conserve these rare turtles,there is also a lot of awareness and knowledge building with the amount of visitors who come here. With some training from SNM members,the villagers have learnt to trace the nests.

SNMs tiny workstation stands right in the middle of the village,with an information kiosk next to it. Depending on the number of tourists coming in,special documentary screenings are arranged at the village temple.

The Kasav Mitra initiative is a community project with all the families in the village as its members. With growing awareness about the issue,the villagers wanted to contribute to the cause. Now,every family gives 10 per cent of their earnings to our organisation for this project. That itself shows their dedication to the cause, says Upadhyay.

Outside,at a kirana store,visitors queue up at a PCO. There is no mobile signal here, says 25-year-old Mumbai-based Pritha Srinivasan,who has been staying at the village for a week. And thats what I love about this place. As you walk out of the store,you notice subtle yet significant changes that Velas has undergone. All for the turtles.