NITI Aayog's megacity plan for Little Andaman Island alarms threat for Giant Leatherback turtle

NITI Aayog Proposals ‘Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island Vision Document’ for tourism and port development in the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands have conservationists worried over the fate of some of the most important nesting populations of the Giant Leatherback turtle in this part of the Indian Ocean.

About Giant Leatherback turtle
The largest of the seven species of sea turtles on the planet and also the most long-ranging, Leatherbacks are found in all oceans except the Arctic and the Antarctic. Within the Indian Ocean, they nest only in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and are also listed in Schedule I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.