Commandos to protect sea turtles

Commandos to protect sea turtles

Muscat – As part of its efforts to protect sea turtles, the Environment Authority (EA), with the participation of local youth, will launch an initiative called ‘Turtle Commandos’ on Tuesday.

An official at EA said, “The three-month initiative aims to protect and monitor sea turtles in Oman, specially at Ras al Hadd Nature Reserve.”

He added that the initiative will encourage youth to volunteer for environment conservation projects, educate the local community inside turtle reserves on best practices, and teach them to protect and monitor sea turtles. “It will also motivate them to keep beaches clean and help clean up post cyclone Shaheen,” the EA official said.

“Participants will undergo awareness training on the importance of turtles. They will in turn transfer this knowledge to the community.”

The programme will engage 40 participants every week from all governorates in various activities and workshops to help achieve its goals in the Ras al Hadd reserve in the wilayat of Sur, South Sharqiyah governorate.

“The idea of the Turtle Commandos programme is based on several factors. Owing to the global situation arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges faced by foreign tourists in visiting Oman, domestic tourism flourished. This led to crowding at turtle sanctuaries as