Foundation laid for T.N.’s first Sea Turtle Conservation Centre at Guindy

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday laid the foundation for Tamil Nadu’s first Sea Turtle Conservation Centre at Guindy in Chennai.

An official release said the proposed Centre of Excellence, which will be established under the World bank-aided Tamil Nadu Sustainably Harnessing Ocean Resources and Blue Economy (TN-SHORE) at a cost of ₹14.50 crore, is aimed at enhancing institutional capacity and tackling the increasing scientific and operational complexity of marine turtle conservation. 

The establishment of the centre is crucial as the State’s coastline is one of the most important marine turtle nesting habitats in the country, especially for the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle, the release said. The coasts of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Nagapattinam, and Cuddalore see significant nesting activity year after year. Tamil Nadu is the only State in the country to have five of the world’s six sea turtle species.

The centre will have dedicated infrastructure to cater to a host of needs, from scientific research, telemetry, monitoring and centralised data management to training and capacity building. It will also be a nodal institution for coordination between departments, and for technical expertise, the release said. 

As such, sea turtles have very low natural survival rates, and only one or two hatchlings get to adulthood. There is also the impact of anthropogenic pressures like artificial lighting, incidental capture during fishing, climate change, marine pollution, coastal development and coastal habitat degradation. To combat these challenges, the State government has been intensifying sea turtle conservation efforts. Apart from distributing over 2,000 Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) to decrease incidental turtle mortality, the government has been carrying out interventions like large-scale night patrolling in the nesting season, creating and managing hatcheries in the nesting beaches, and sensitisation programmes for fishermen. It has resulted in egg collection increasing from 70,700 in 2019-20 to 3.20 lakh in 2024-25. Also, hatchling releases have gone up from 1.16 lakh in 2020-21 to 2.87 lakh in 2024-25. 

Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Minister for Forests and Khadi R.S. Rajakannappan Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam, Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change, and Forests, Supriya Sahu, and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force Srinivas R. Reddy participated in the event, the release said.