OMR15,000 raised for protecting turtles on Masirah Island

Muscat: More than OMR15,000 has been pledged for the Environment Society Of Oman’s (ESO’s) turtle conservation project, which will be used to help protect loggerhead turtles on Masirah Island.
The funds were raised during the ‘Sprint for Oman’ race, which took place as part of the annual ‘Spartan Obstacle Race.’
The Spartan Race is held within obstacle courses of varying distances and difficulties.
Sprint for Oman was started by a group of volunteers who approached ESO with the idea of running the Spartan Race and, in doing so, raise money through friends and family for the Turtle Conservation Project.
ESO’s Yusra Jaffer said that the funds would be used to protect loggerhead turtles in their natural habitat by cleaning the area of marine litter dumped in oceans and other water bodies, in a bid to prevent the turtles from ingesting the litter.
“The collected funds will be used for the conservation of loggerhead turtles on Masirah Island, especially in the area of real, on the ground conservation actions, as well as community engagement and awareness,” Jaffer said.
Termed vulnerable species The International Union For The Conservation of Nature has classified loggerhead turtle as a vulnerable species. Some rough estimates put their number at 200,000.
The species is found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea and other oceans.
“There has been a significant decline in the number of these turtles over the last 20 years, mainly due to their getting caught in nets meant for fish, being harmed by artificial lighting from roads and towns, beach driving, and nets and fishing gear being discarded on beaches,” Jaffer said.
Jaffer added that the amount pledged may yet go up.“The donations are still coming in and we believe that the runners are still collecting their personal sponsorships. Their friends and families donated, as well.
Donations from individual runners ranged from OMR5 to OMR1,000,” she said.
Social media played a role The volunteers ensured that the fundraising was shared across different social media platforms to encourage others to join.
Those social media posts were shared by ESO, as well.
ESO also raised the public’s knowledge about its work at training sessions held every Friday by Spartan organisers.
“The Sprint for Oman volunteers were incredibly outgoing and energetic, and ESO has rarely had such an enthusiastic group of people willing to raise funds for our causes.
It has been increasingly difficult in these financial times to secure funding for our projects and it was wonderful to see so many people encouraging us and helping in this aspect,” Jaffer said.