Doha: The turtle nesting season in Fuwairit beach is witnessing a great development with the continuation of nesting operations within the endangered hawksbill sea turtle protection project.
The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change represented by the Department of Protection and Wildlife.
Last week, there was acceleration in nesting, as the number of nests transferred to the protected site at Fuwairit beach reached 67 nests.
This is with a significant increase in Fuwairit site compared to the rest of the sites, which were affected by the winter camping season with the extension of the time period for winter camps.
The increasing pressure to camp on the open beaches has resulted in the failure of many nesting attempts due to the lights and sounds of the campers.
This also led to an increase in the turnout of turtles on Fuwairit beach under protection and the creation of a closed area for turtle nesting, which is not accessible to vehicles and does not have any negative human effects.
During the past weeks, a slowdown in the nesting operations was also recorded due to wind and low temperatures, but acceleration in the nesting operations in Fuwairit site during the past week, with a number of 38 nests within a week.
It is expected that the nesting operations will increase in the coming weeks in light of the end of the marine winter camping season and the removal of marine camps from the northeastern beaches of the country.
Work is underway within turtle protection project, which is being carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. It is funded by Qatar Energy, and implemented by the Environmental Science Centre at Qatar University in cooperation with a team from the Department of Protection and Wildlife.
The project covers the northeastern beaches of the country (Ras Laffan, Huwaila, Al Jassasiya, Al Muruna, Fuwairit, Al Ghariyah, and Al Mufir). The members of work team are assigned in shifts covering all the sites, and the nests that are monitored are transferred to the designated site in Fuwairit.