There's a beach in India with a wonderful story of hope for humanity and sea turtles – Versova Beach in Mumbai. A man on a mission, leading by example, has turned what was once a dump, shin-high in the garbage, back into a pristine coastline. Through years of effort, along with the help of others, the rehabilitation of the environment made way to the return of Olive Ridley turtles nesting on the beach.
Lawyer Afroz Shah is the man responsible for instigating that ongoing cleanup operation that the UN has even called: “the world’s largest beach cleanup project.” It all began three years ago. Shah went to the beach and started offering to clean communal toilets and pick up rubbish himself. He wanted to prove to the 55,000 inhabitants that life along the beach and the waterways what needed to be done.
Since then he's been leading volunteers in manually picking up rubbish from Versova beach. He also teaches sustainable waste practices to villagers and people living in slums along the coastline and the creeks leading into it, so that they don't to litter. His efforts with the volunteers removed a whopping five million kilograms of plastic in 85 weeks.
With the beach was cleaned up, the coastline became suitable for nesting again. In this way, citizen initiatives like this one in Mumbai, India, are reestablishing the balance in nature.
All their weeks of work paid off when hatchlings from a vulnerable (classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature) turtle species were spotted, for the first time in decades, crawling out of the sand and making their way to the oceans. In only one week at least 80 Olive Ridley turtles made their way into the Arabian Sea from nests on the southern end of Versova beach. Volunteers slept overnight on the beach to guard them against wild dogs and birds of prey and ensure every single turtle made their journey into the waters successfully.
According to recent news reports, they now have approximately 30,000 school children on a roster system and around 500 volunteers cleaning up regularly on weekends. More and more people want to help. Everybody is inspired by what has happened here. To know that by even only helping out one day a week for a few hours can make a difference has motivated many to join.
There's a beach in India with a wonderful story of hope for humanity and sea turtles – Versova Beach in Mumbai. A man on a mission, leading by example, has turned what was once a dump, shin-high in the garbage, back into a pristine coastline. Through years of effort, along with the help of others, the rehabilitation of the environment made way to the return of Olive Ridley turtles nesting on the beach.
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