LEATHERBACK TURTLES

LEATHERBACK TURTLES

Subject : Environment

Context : Proposals for tourism and port development in the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands have conservationists worried over the fate of some of the most important nesting populations of the Giant Leatherback turtle in this part of the Indian Ocean.

Concept :

• Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelyscoriacea) is largest of the seven species of sea turtles on the planet and also the most long-ranging, being found in all oceans except the Arctic and the Antarctic.
• Within the Indian Ocean, they nest only in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• It is the only living species in the genus Dermochelys and family Dermochelyidae.
• It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell, hence the name. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh.
• They are listed in Schedule I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, according it the highest legal protection.

In Budget 2021:

• The A&N Islands are prominent in the National Marine Turtle Action Plan released on February 1, 2021, by the Ministry of Environment.
• The plan notes that “India has identified all its important sea turtle nesting habitats as ‘Important Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Areas’ and included them in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) – 1”.
• South Bay and West Bay on Little Andaman and Galathea on Great Nicobar, along with other nesting beaches in the islands, find a specific mention here as “Important Marine Turtle Habitats in India” and the largest Leatherback nesting grounds in India.