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Greenpeace recreates Turtle Graveyard in Orissa capital: Forest department confesses inability to protect endangered species

Press release - April 3, 2006
BHUBANESWAR, India — Greenpeace today confronted the Chief Wildlife Warden of Orissa, with an 'I Witness' report of the mass deaths of Olive Ridley turtles on the beaches of Orissa. Activists bearing crosses and posters with pictures of dead turtles created a funereal atmosphere outside the office of S.C. Mohanty, Chief Wildlife Warden, as a symbol of the thousands of turtles that have been killed in Orissa, due to the government's failure to enforce the ban on trawling in near shore waters.
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03rd April 2006: Greenpeace activists create a symbolic graveyard outside the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden of Orissa, as a reminder of the mass deaths of the endangered Olive Ridley Turtles. Greenpeace has demanded that the Forest Department demonstrate its accountability, and take concrete steps to prevent further turtle deaths in Orissa. All pix (c) Greenpeace/Namrata Chowdhary

The Greenpeace 'I Witness' report presents the principle findings of monitoring, research and documentation carried out over the last three months, from the Turtle Witness Camp set up by Greenpeace at the Bandar Fisheries Harbour in the Devi region. The report provides a chilling reminder of the urgency of the issue, as the already endangered Olive Ridleys are being pushed towards extinction. Bearing witness, Greenpeace has documented evidence of more than two thousand dead turtles washed ashore in the Devi region alone, in just one season. 

"This will be just a fraction of the population killed every year, out at sea, as many carcasses are never washed ashore," said Ashish Fernandes, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace India, "By focusing only on the wondrous arribada phenomenon, where thousands of turtles come ashore to lay over a hundred eggs each, the Forest Department may delude itself into believing that these deaths are insignificantly low. But given the many natural threats the turtles face, the inescapable reality is that the turtle population will simply not survive this rate of attrition. What we're seeing here today might well result in a total collapse of the turtle population in the near future." 

At the end of a three-hour wait, the Chief Wildlife Warden's only response to the critical questions raised by Greenpeace was to profess his complete inability to improve the situation. He said his department was handicapped because it did not receive adequate support (financial resources or manpower) from the state government.

While admitting that no high-speed patrol boats had been procured thus far, he said that the funds allocated for turtle protection were being utilized to hire fishing trawlers to serve as patrol boats; a total of Rs 60 lakhs has been spent on this and other 'routine operations' in the last three years. As the Greenpeace report points out, these three years have seen over ten thousand turtle deaths being recorded in the Devi region alone.

In response to the demand for demarcation of the sanctuary and the no-fishing zones, the Chief Wildlife Warden S C Mohanty dismissed it as a process too 'complicated' and 'expensive' for his department to undertake.

The Warden ended the meeting by admitting that the Forest Department was not equipped to monitor the seas, as its officials were trained in forest management, and suggesting that the responsibility should be transferred to "some other department."

For further information, please contact:

Ashish Fernandes, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace India : +91 99378 22879

Saumya Tripathi, Media Officer (Bhubaneshwar), Greenpeace India: +91 93371 17950 

Namrata Chowdhary, Greenpeace India Communications: +91 98108 50092

Pictures and Footage are available from our FTP server:

Log onto: ftp://share.greenpeace.org

Login name: india_read

Password: aigheice

Footage: Turtle Witness Camp: Arribada: The Arrival

Pictures: 0304cww.zip

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