Etawah/Uttar Pradesh: Commemorating the World Turtle Day, May 23, hundreds of hatchlings of the critically endangered red-crowned roofed turtle and three-striped roofed turtle were released into the lower Chambal river on Monday, IANS reported.
The international conservation organisation Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and the leading cloth brand Turtle Ltd., had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sunday.
The Kolkata based Turtle Ltd. decided to participate in Chambal's turtle conservation project after the freshwater turtle population in India and across the globe reported declining at an alarming rate. The apparel brand got involved as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.
Development Researcher at TSA, which works to save freshwater turtles from extinction, Saurabh Dewan said, "Chambal conservation project initiated in 2006, jointly with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department is one of the flagship projects that is focused on two of the most threatened freshwater turtles of the country - red-crowned roofed turtle and the three-striped roofed turtle, protecting around three hundred nests of the two species around Chambal every year."
Project Officer of TSA India, Dr Arunima Singh, said, "These nests are guarded in 24X7 manned river-side hatcheries, and the hatchlings are immediately released at the natal sites from where the nests are recorded, in a measure to minimise depredation of eggs and long-term population supplementation."
Meanwhile, Brand Manager of Turtle Ltd. Rupam Deb said, "We are committed to the cause of sustainability to people, planet, and society. We thus see this as an opportunity for us to give it back to the society and environment."
Conservation biologists, scientists and researchers run the TSA India Programme. It seeks local solutions to save turtles. TSA conserves turtles in five places across India: West Bengal, Terai and Chambal regions in Uttar Pradesh, Northeast India and South India.