Turtle Tourism likely to be the next big thing in Odisha

Odisha’s Puri Beach recently observed turtle festival, where tourists, environmentalists and researchers gathered in a bid to promote eco-tourism and help conserve Olive Ridley turtles.
As per the official records, Odisha has 90 per cent of India’s turtle population and also boasts of being home to half of the world’s Olive Ridley turtle population. Yet, no steps have been taken so far toward the conservation of these turtles.

The festival hosted events, such as sand art, painting exhibition, and stalls that showcased regional artefacts. With Odisha, being one of the popular tourist destinations in the country, the organisers blended this concept of conserving turtles with tourism and involved tourists as well as locals in the process.
Referring to this noble initiative, the organisers said that this annual festival has been observed to bring awareness among people towards saving the turtles. Also, as per the latest records, Odisha was the largest recipient of Olive Ridley Turtles in October 2018, when this region recorded the presence of around a million of such kind of turtles.
People gathered to create awareness and promote ideas regarding this concept. Hemant Rout, Secretary of Gahiramatha Marine Turtle and Mangrove Conservation Society, referring to this development said artificial turtle hatcheries, which were constructed by the forest officials to protect the eggs, can also be used to woo more and more tourists.

Tourism and turtles go along with each other in places like Mexico, Australia, Sri Lanka, and many other countries, where tourists pay a hefty amount to visit beaches and see the turtles. However, Odisha is yet to make a mark on this front. Therefore, this festival is looked upon as a hope to bring more awareness and eventually lend a helping hand in conserving these turtles.