Community-led turtle conservation in the Rivers Ganga and Ramganga, Uttar Pradesh, India

The Gangetic River System in Uttar Pradesh, India, supports 14 species of turtles. Excessive riverbedfarming has encroached on turtle habitat used for nesting and basking. To conserve threatened turtles in the UpperGanga, an in-situ turtle conservation program was initiated jointly by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department andWWF-India in 2012 to engage the community in turtle conservation. The local riparian community was sensitizedand mobilized to participate in conservation efforts. Turtles and the Ganga River have religious significance and arehonored by the local riparian community, which encourages active participation in conservation efforts. During thestudy, 226 riparian community members have registered as Ganga Mitras (Friends of the River) and are involved inmonitoring and other conservation efforts. A total of 828 turtle nests were rescued from riverbed agriculture with thehelp of 520 riverbed farmers in the Upper Ganga and Ramganga Rivers between 2012 and 2021. These nests contained5,828 eggs, from which 4,529 turtles were hatched and survived (77.7% hatching success). These hatchlings were thenreared in specially designed nursery ponds during the flood season and released into their respective rivers in winter.As poikilotherms, the food requirements of turtles are reduced during the winter season, making it easier for them toacclimatize to the new environment. Released turtle hatchlings were 1,945 Critically Endangered Three-striped RoofedTurtles (Batagur dhongoka), 1,292 Near-Threatened Brown Roofed Turtles (Pangshura smithii), and 1,480 Indian TentTurtles (Pangshura tentoria), which are listed as being of Least Concern.