World Wide Fund for Conservation of Nature (WWF-Pakistan), in collaboration with ICI Pakistan and City District Government Karachi (CDGK), on Saturday organised a beach-cleaning event at turtle nesting ground of Sandspit here to mark its project "Save The Turtle Project."
The project is supported by ICI Pakistan, WWF-Pakistan's Environmental Education and Communication Officer Shameer Ali Prasla told APP here.
More than 200 students, including girl students, teachers, Sandspit community members and representatives of ICI Pakistan, WWF-Pakistan and Sindh Wildlife department collected total 147 plastic bags and garbage from one-and-a-half km stretch of Sandspit turtle beach.
Chief Executive, ICI Pakistan Jonathan R. Stoney and General Manager, ICI Pakistan Jehangir Bashir Nawaz inaugurated the beach cleaning programme releasing turtle hatchling into the sea.
Sandspit is the nesting ground for globally endangered species of turtles Green turtle and Olive Ridley.
Number of people visit the beach daily and majority of them litter it with plastic bags and garbage that disturb the turtles coming to the beach in eggs-laying season from August to December.
Solid waste, especially plastic bags, pose great threat to marine turtles as these creatures take the plastic bags wrongly as jellyfish, which is food of these turtles.
WWF Pakistan organises beach-cleaning activity at Sandspit during turtles nesting season every year.
Manager Communications, ICI Pakistan Liaquat Siddiq urged students to serve as ambassadors of nature and spread the message of turtle conservation.
Deputy Director General of WWF-Pakistan Dr Ejaz Ahmed highlighted the importance of clean beaches in sustaining marine life.
Mrs Nuzhat Siddiqui of Environmental Education Unit, City District Government Karachi, thanked ICI Pakistan and WWF for arranging activities for CDGK schools.