Janan Behzad, Secretary General of the Kuwaiti Society for Environmental Protection, announced that “the Society is one of the founders of the Shuwaikh Beach Cleanup Campaign, which is organized annually in cooperation with the Environment Public Authority, the Japanese Embassy, and the Japanese Society. The number of Kuwaiti volunteers increases from year to year, and although the campaign is symbolic, the message that reaches everyone is the importance of preserving environmental resources and their cleanliness.” She praised the participation of the Environment Public Authority, the Environmental Police, the Emergency Medical Services, Kuwait Municipality, and the Kuwaiti Scouts Association, noting that the Society will document some of the activities of the participants in the (Sea Turtle Operation), which is consistent with the Society’s Beach Safari Program.
For her part, Engineer Maali Al-Aqab, Director of Public Relations at the Kuwaiti Society for Environmental Protection, indicated that “with regard to the sea turtle campaign that we are undertaking, it is an environmental symbol that falls within the framework of awareness and community roles for citizens and residents. It is a cooperation that reflects the importance of raising awareness of the roles of individuals and national institutions in applying the principle of participation and environmental citizenship to preserve the environment in the country.” She noted that “the Society’s participation in organizing the campaign comes through its social responsibility aimed at promoting volunteer work, especially in the field of protecting the environment from pollution.”.
Al-Aqab emphasized that “the association’s participation in this year’s event came with preparations that reflect the Kuwaiti support for our brothers in occupied Palestine, especially the Gaza Strip, which is afflicted with the most heinous forms of abuse and genocide. In this context, the Friends of the Environment team decided to wear T-shirts bearing the turtle, the icon of the event, decorated with a map of Palestine, in addition to wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, a symbol of steadfastness and pride, in a humanitarian community message that we in Kuwait stand in the trench of support, aid, and relief for our brothers in the occupied Palestinian territories. The team members remember the children of Gaza all the time and demand their right to a stable life in which they can exercise their right to a decent life, education, and volunteering like all children around the world.”.
Engineer Maali Al-Aqab explained, “This year, the association is participating with its teams, as well as some distinguished schools included in the (Green Schools) program this year, in addition to a number of male and female volunteers to participate in this community environmental event.”
In the same context, Jenan Behzad called for the protection of Kuwait Bay and the southern coastal areas due to the importance of these areas in providing food for sea turtles. She explained that “a female turtle lays about 150 eggs each time she lays eggs, but even under natural conditions, estimates indicate that only one or two in a thousand of the hatchlings survive to adulthood. They are exposed to many dangers, such as being affected by human activity or being eaten by crabs, fish, or other animals.” She pointed to the threats facing sea turtles, including “the loss and destruction of habitats resulting from the construction of facilities on beaches, accidents of getting caught in fishing nets and the like, and pollution of their marine habitat and the beach.”.
Behzad confirmed, “There are four types of sea turtles living in the waters surrounding the shores of the State of Kuwait that are threatened with extinction: the green turtle, the loggerhead turtle, the leatherback turtle, and the hawksbill turtle.” She explained that “the hawksbill turtle is critically endangered and lays its eggs in the State of Kuwait and feeds on sponges, snails, and small crabs. The green turtle is also endangered and often feeds on seagrass and can reach a weight of 250 kilograms. The loggerhead turtle is also endangered, while the leatherback turtle is critically endangered and roams the waters of the State of Kuwait. It can reach a length of 185 cm and its diet consists mainly of jellyfish.”.
She added, “Marine balance and the health of the marine environment are very important for the availability of healthy food for turtles, and they are also the secret to their survival.” She explained that “the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified five of the seven turtle species as either threatened with extinction (the loggerhead turtle, the green turtle, and the olive ridley turtle), or critically endangered (the leatherback turtle and the hawksbill turtle).”.
“To protect these animals, we need to know where they live,” she noted. “Sea turtles are constantly migrating animals. They live and feed in one place and swim thousands of miles to another to breed and lay their eggs. Because sea turtles lay their eggs on land, most of these beaches are well-defined and studied. But after the turtle leaves these beaches and travels far away, the only way we can track the turtle in the open seas is to attach a transmitter to the turtle’s back to track it remotely and wait to receive signals indicating its location. Then we can help reduce the threats facing turtles along their migration route.”.
