‘Turtle Lady of Karachi’ Saving Endangered Species

Turtles have existed since the days of the dinasaurs, or some 100 million years. Now this endangered species is under threat from pollution, trawler nets and beach development. Here, Zofeen T Ebrahim tells the remarkable story of one woman’s effort in Karachi, Pakistan, to protect this age-old creature.

Farida Asrar Ghauri, 51, a Project Officer with the Marine Turtle Project is known to patrol the Karachi beaches at night, looking for green turtles. “I know I’m mad, staying awake half the night, walking on the beach. Who, in their right mind would do it, day after day, year after year…” says Ghauri, better known in Pakistan as the ‘Turtle Lady of Karachi’.

Ghauri has been extremely busy since September – the start of the green turtle nesting season. “I hardly get any sleep. I’m at the beach almost every night and in the day I’m at work filing the data, or giving lectures and making presentations in schools before we take the students to watch the egg-laying for the evening…