Lobito - The Cambeú project intends to launch between four and five thousand turtle hatchlings into the sea, from December to mid-March this year, in the city of Lobito, ANGOP learned.
On Sunday, 170 chicks from only one nest were launched into the open sea, in the Restinga area, according to the project coordinator, Sónia Ferreira.
She considered this season to be a poor one, because the project underwent a change in its direction.
'The initiative was from a French couple, who worked at the Soba Catumbela brewery, a company they supported to a large extent', she explained.
However, this couple had to return to their country for personal reasons and the project was handed over to the Angolans.
The new board still needs to be known to get new support, according to the coordinator.
Sónia Ferreira said that, for the project to work, she needs an annual budget of 15 million kwanzas to maintain its logistics, which involves transport, fuel, salaries, clothing, food, etc.
Another difficulty has to do with the number of rangers, who are technicians who control the spawning of turtles, lay their eggs in the nests and monitor their movements.
'Before, the project worked with twelve patrol officers, six in the Restinga area and another six in the Compo neighborhood. This season they only worked four', she revealed.
She said, however, that the Cambeú project intends to extend its radius of action to the entire coast of Benguela province.
'We want to gradually advance north to Egypt Beach, and south starting from Praia do Bebé (Catumbela) to Baía Farta' she said.
Regarding the awareness campaign against the killing of turtles, Sónia Ferreira informed that the project has taken advantage of the launch of the turtles to give lectures to the attendees about their protection.
In addition, she has spoken to the communities, especially with fishermen to refrain from hunting the animals, which are already on the verge of extinction.
She recalled that of the seven species of turtle existing in the world, five appeared in the country's seas. They are the green turtle, the olive turtle, the leatherback turtle, the giant turtle and the loggerhead turtle.
'Today we only see the olive ridley turtle, because of hunting, not only on land but also on the high seas,' she said.
In her opinion, it is necessary for the Ministry of Fisheries and related companies to control what comes out of the sea, as a way to protect the species.
'We cannot say that the other species no longer exist, because the turtle takes between 16 and 20 years to reach the adult stage,' she clarified.
The Cambeú project has existed since 2017 and currently has seven executives.
It has already trained about 80 volunteers who work alternately in their spare time.
Institutional support
The director of the Provincial Environment Office, Mariza Kinzimba, said that the Government intends to support the Cambeú project, so as not to let it die.
'There is also the Kitabanga project that has the same social purpose and is in various parts of the country, but Cambeú is only in the province of Benguela', she said.
According to the director, the goal is to help the project expand along the coast of the province.
Asked about the first actions, she said that a base has already been achieved. 'We are going to requalify it to serve as a training center, because this work requires a certain amount of training,' she said.
'We are trying to work to see if we can get bases on all these beaches, as well as the logistics that involve other expenses', she emphasized.
Regarding the measures to protect turtles, Mariza Kinzimba said that any citizen understands that turtles arrive at the beach to spawn, so 'you should not kill or eat their eggs, which are scientifically proven to be harmful to health'.
She called for care in the disposal of solid waste in the sea, because they often mistake it for food and end up dying.
'On January 31 we will celebrate National Environment Day and coincidentally we will bring an international conference on biodiversity', he informed.
She took the opportunity to appeal to everyone's reflection on what has been done for the conservation of 'our biodiversity' at a national level. TC/CRB/DOJ
