How GEF Small Grants Program Allows Younger Volunteers Take the Lead in Sea Turtle Conservation — World Points
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh, April 20 (IPS) – Each winter hundreds of sea turtles come ashore at Cox’s Bazar, within the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, to put eggs.
Their path to their breeding grounds is hazardous – fishing nets, propellers, mild air pollution, coastal developments, stray canine and different risks conspire in opposition to their success.
The realm is wealthy in biodiversity, with 5 out of seven historical reptiles current in Bangladesh’s waters, with three – the Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), the Inexperienced Turtle (Chelonia mydas), and the Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) – coming ashore for nesting.
Amid such unfavourable odds for the aquatic creatures, a gaggle of younger individuals volunteer to guard the turtles on the seashore at Cox’s Bazar throughout the breeding season from November to March, contributing to their profitable conservation.
“Previously, we didn’t understand how sea turtles assist preserve marine ecosystems. Now we all know sea turtles play an essential function in conserving biodiversity,” Rezaul Karim, a resident of Shafir Beel village in Cox’s Bazar, advised Inter Press Service (IPS).
Karim is without doubt one of the youths educated for sea turtle conservation underneath a challenge run by the Arannayk Basis, a non-profit conservation organisation in Bangladesh. The muse established a sea turtle conservation group involving 25 native youths (11 girls, 14 males) underneath its Ecosystem Consciousness and Restoration By means of Concord (EARTH) challenge. EARTH is supported by the Forest Division, the Division of Surroundings (DoE), and the United Nations Improvement Programme (UNDP) with funding from the World Surroundings Facility (GEF).
The group is working to lift consciousness about sea turtle conservation amongst fishermen, youth, and the area people. They’re additionally aiming to encourage a shift in native attitudes by participating neighborhood members.
Group chief Delwar Hossain, a resident of Sonarpara village underneath Ukhyia upazila, stated sea turtles play an important function in sustaining marine ecosystems, as completely different species of sea turtles assist sweep or clear the ocean by managing numerous meals sources and habitats.
He stated there’s a superstition among the many marine fishermen that if turtles are caught of their fishing gear, it’ll carry unhealthy luck and that’s the reason they kill turtles caught of their nets.
“We held conferences with the fishermen a number of occasions and made them conscious of sea turtle conservation,” Delwar stated.
Gabriella Richardson Temm, Lead of the Small Grants Program at the GEF, says civil society, Indigenous Peoples, native communities, and youth and girls teams all over the world “play important roles in shaping world growth agendas. They ship transformational options to world environmental issues, carry rights holders and marginalised voices into nationwide coverage dialogues, and elevate native priorities in worldwide environmental negotiations and financing.”
The small grants program has served as a cornerstone of civil society engagement inside the GEF partnership since its inception in 1992.
“Over three a long time, this system has demonstrated outstanding attain and impression, administering over US$1.5 billion via practically 30,000 grants to Indigenous Peoples, native communities, girls, and youth throughout 136 international locations. This in depth community has efficiently secured US$990 million in co-financing, demonstrating this system’s effectiveness in mobilising further sources for environmental motion on the grassroots degree,” says Temm.
Grassroots neighborhood safety has been acknowledged as contributing to the success of transferring one of many sea turtles – the inexperienced turtle – to the Worldwide Union for Cons
ervation of Nature’s (IUCN) ‘Least Concern’ checklist. Different elements embrace worldwide commerce bans, diminished poaching, and improved fishing gear.
Nonetheless, the species predominantly nesting within the Cox’s Bazar seashores, the Olive Ridley is assessed as ‘Susceptible’on the IUCN Pink Listing of Threatened Species, whereas the Hawksbill Turtle stays ‘Critically Endangered’ because of inhabitants declines.
Institution of Turtle Hatchery
In Cox’s Bazar, with the assistance of the inspiration, the youth group surveyed a ten km stretch from Reju Khal to Balia Khali seashore to establish sea turtle nesting websites. It additionally gathered insights from native communities on sea turtle breeding seasons, nesting frequency, most well-liked areas, and neighborhood perceptions relating to conservation.
Following the evaluation, a sea turtle hatchery was established in Boro Inani, Cox’s Bazar. The hatchery is now enjoying an important conservation function, as these statistics present.
Between January and April 2024, 5,878 Olive Ridley eggs had been collected from numerous nests at Swankhali, Ruppati, Imamer Deil, and Madarbunia sea seashores, leading to 3,586 hatchlings hatching, with a mean hatching success of 61 %.
Additionally, from February to April 2025, a complete of three,199 eggs had been collected, and by Could 2025, 716 hatchlings had been launched.
Delwar stated that stray canine usually eat the turtle eggs so the hatchery makes a major contribution.
“We accumulate eggs that turtles launch on the shore and convey these to the hatchery for hatching. Moreover, we ask the neighborhood individuals to present turtle eggs to the hatchery. We, the group members, accumulate the turtle eggs from them too.”
Nurul Afsar, one other TCG member, stated many ethnic communities residing in Cox’s Bazar devour turtles and their eggs – so the group performs a job in encouraging them to not devour however as a substitute shield them.
ABM Sarowar Alam, program supervisor (species and habitats) on the IUCN in Bangladesh, stated Cox’s Bazar Seaside was as soon as the best breeding floor for sea turtles, nevertheless it has dwindled because of habitat loss, poaching, and human disturbance.
He believes that a number of areas of the seashore must be declared as “protected areas for sea turtles” to make sure protected breeding and that fishing must be restricted within the canals connecting to the ocean in order that turtles can transfer freely for nesting.
The group additionally addresses different hazards, equivalent to the problem of stray canine that kill the turtles and devour the eggs.
Firoz Al Amin, vary officer of Inani Forest Vary in Ukhiya, stated the Forest Division has been working to manage the stray canine on the seashore, aiming to guard the turtles.
EARTH Mission, Extra Than Turtle Conservation
Dr Mohammed Muzammel Hoque, nationwide coordinator of the GEF Small Grants Program at UNDP Bangladesh, stated the EARTH challenge’s function went past turtle conservation within the area.
It has elephant-response groups to mitigate conflicts between elephants and people. The 5 Crab Conservation Teams (CCG), comprising 25 youth members, and 5 sea Turtle Conservation Teams (TCG), additionally consisting of 25 youth members, stay lively. The challenge was additionally working in the direction of restoring habitats, with over 7,780 seedlings planted with help from the EARTH Mission, with round 80% surviving.
Nonetheless, Hoque stated that the success depends on funding – and it’s hoped that when a Forest Path turns into operational, it could generate income from vacationers.
Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, program coordinator of the Arannayk Basis, stated the challenge, by integrating livelihoods with conservation, “helped develop a way of possession amongst neighborhood members and youth, guaranteeing that environmental safety isn’t just a challenge final result however a sustained, collective dedication.”
Observe: The Eighth World Surroundings Facility Meeting might be held from Could 30 to June 6, 2026 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
This characteristic is printed with the help of the GEF. IPS is solely answerable for the editorial content material, and it doesn’t essentially replicate the views of the GEF.
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