At 7am, while Mumbai was still waking up to a lazy Sunday morning, about 300 kilometres away from the city, a lone man walked with determination along the sandy stretch of Velas beach in Ratnagiri district. Keeping a vigil on the shore, Bhau Katdare walked towards the water and gently placed a little turtle — the size of a clenched fist — on the sand. As if on cue, guided by the light reflecting from the sea waves, the hatchling made its way to the sea. “Twelve years later, the hatchling, which will become an adult female turtle, will reappear to nest and lay about 200 eggs in the exact spot where it was born,” said Katdare. Katdare, 45, has been saving the lives of thousands of Olive Ridley turtles for over six years now. Thanks to an enterprising initiative of the Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra, a Chiplun-based NGO founded by Katdare and a few like-minded people, the Olive Ridley turtle, one of the most endangered species of turtles in India, will continue to make its annual trip to Velas for the next 100 years. What makes the Olive Ridley turtle unique is that unlike other reptiles, it nests and lays eggs at the exact spot where it was born. It all began in 2002, when Vijay Mahabal, a nature-lover and a member of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra, on a visit to Velas village found a large number of broken egg shells on the seashore. Mahabal found out that Velas is the most preferred nesting place of the Olive Ridley. Of the 110 nests found on the 720-km coastline of the state, 32 are located at Velas. But Mahabal was shocked to know that for generations, some villagers had been illegally poaching and selling the eggs. “While the turtle eggs were sold in three neighbouring villages for a mere 75 paise per egg, the turtles were poached for their meat,” recalled Bal Upadhye, a resident of Velas. Mahabal rushed to Katdare, secretary of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra, who came up with the idea of a turtle conservation project. The project is now a success story spread over 30 villages on the state’s entire coastline. The NGO chose a few locals to keep a round-the-clock vigil and collect eggs from the nests and shift them to specially-made hatcheries on the beach. When the eggs hatch about 45-50 days later, they are carefully released into the sea. “We decided to enlist local support by offering the locals a monthly remuneration, which was double the amount they earned by selling eggs,” recalled Katdare. The idea worked and today some of the biggest poachers of turtles in the village have become conservationists. The two-day annual turtle festival started by the NGO two years ago, in which information about the turtle’s ecological importance is conveyed, has become one of the most anticipated events by nature lovers. Over 500 people from places like Mumbai, Pune, Jalgaon, and Sangli attended the festival