Proposed Great Nicobar Island port threatening the survival of largest turtles on Earth

In a remote archipelago at the southernmost tip of India lies the Great Nicobar Island. The Indian government recently granted key approvals for an international container port on the island, which may prevent leatherback turtles from reaching their nesting sites. Massive development, massive impact The huge infrastructure project planned for Great Nicobar Island includes: a mega trans-shipment port, where large volumes of cargo will be moved from one vessel to another for shipping to another port an international airport which will handle 4,000 passengers an hour at its peak a power plant a new township. The Great Nicobar Island plan will damage complex and diverse tropical and coastal ecosystems and several rare and endemic species. They reportedly include: establishing a long-term research unit, focused on sea turtles, including a base at Great Nicobar Island requiring that the company behind the project has a “well laid down environmental policy duly approved by the board of directors” where possible, safeguarding trees that contain nesting holes for endemic owls.