Specialist Sónia Ferreira, from the Kambéu organization, recently expressed concern regarding the accumulation of rubbish that has occurred on the beaches of Benguela, particularly Morena beach, where her organization recently released more than a hundred baby turtles. born there. Sónia maintains that, of the 5 species that abounded in the seas of Benguela, today there is only one, the olive.
Another concern of that environmentalist has to do, fundamentally, with the consumption of turtle eggs by the population. She considers it necessary for citizens to be made aware of the importance of these marine animals for the ecosystem.
“There are many obstacles they face: garbage, trawling and hunting by humans. One of the ways to raise awareness is to talk regarding trash,” he said, for whom solid waste, both on land and at sea, constitutes an attack on the survival of turtles.
According to an expert, there is a marked deficiency in the collection of solid waste on the beaches of Benguela, which has drawn the attention of those entitled to the need for a particular look at the issue of sanitation on the seafront. And, in this regard, he states that citizens are also called upon to take a stance in safeguarding marine species.
“We live with trash (it seems normal) but it is very common for us to find trash and make trash. This is one of the difficulties. Other difficulties we have are some help to get us further and further away. At the moment, we are only in Lobito. We started with the project now here in Benguela”, she maintains, saying that there is a need for the Kambéu project to extend its range of action to several other beaches in the province and cites, as an example, those of Egypt-Praia, in Kanjala, Baía-Farta For four years now, in the seas of Benguela, experts have only found the species of olive turtle, when species such as the chorus, giant, green and loggerhead turtles abounded there.
Sónia points out, among other factors as being at the basis of the extinction of four species, human actions, combined with climate issues. “Climatic factors, on the one hand, and on the other hand we believe that most of it is due to indiscriminate hunting”, she emphasizes. In turn, the director of the Provincial Housing, Environment and Solid Waste Management Office, Marisa Quizimba, praises the work that has been developed by the project called kambéu, whose aim is currently focused on preserving the only species of turtle, in particular , and marine fauna in general.
The person responsible maintains that, thanks to the work undertaken, it was possible to locate two turtle nesting sites on some beaches in the province, since the main difficulty for experts and the Government has consisted, fundamentally, in identifying nesting sites. “As a rule, what naturally happens, the turtles arrive at the beach, lay their eggs and, following some time, the eggs hatch right there in that place. It’s a curiosity that they have, normally, they only spawn where they are born,” she said.
“Hence the extinction when they are eliminated”, adds the government official, disapproving the fact that the population uses turtle eggs as a product for consumption, which she advises once morest. Like Sónia, Marisa blames some citizens for the extinction of four species of turtles from Benguela’s marine fauna. “Mainly, hunting. They suffer many threats until they reach the sea, but the biggest one is hunting. Both the eggs and the mother turtle”, considers her, the director of the Provincial Office of Housing, Environment and Solid Waste Management.
BY: Constantino Eduardo, in Benguela
