Earlier this month, a few Team Members from both Kuredu and Prodivers accompanied by some guests visited the ‘Lhaviyani Turtle Fest’, which was held on the local island of Naifaru.  The Lhaviyani Turtle Fest offers the opportunity to create awareness for ocean conservation and more specifically for that of Turtles.  Located on Naifaru are the team from ‘Atoll Volunteers’ who are engaged in a Turtle conservation initiative, and the day kicked off with a presentation from them on the work that they are doing on Naifaru.

The Atoll Volunteer team’s main aim to locate Turtles that were kept in captivity as babies and slowly rehabilitate them to return to life in the open ocean.  Rehabilitation take time and initially focuses on building up the strength and immune system of the Turtle. Once the Turtles progress through this phase, they are relocated to a larger environment monitored to see how they adapt. Eventually they are tagged for research and released.

In addition to seeing the work of the Atoll Volunteers, the local community displayed stalls highlighting the importance of saving Turtles and protecting the Ocean.  Local artwork from the Naifaru school children was exhibited, including recycled materials which were used to promote the re-use of nonperishable materials. The afternoon was completed with traditional dance routines and a round of speeches.

Towards the end of the day, the Prodivers team gave a short presentation aimed at helping to educate the school children, parents and local dive centers on the unique population of Green Turtles in the Lhaviyani Atoll, and how anyone can become involved with marine conservation, especially with regards to such amazing creatures as Turtles.