About Us
Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises Foundation (FTTF) is a non-profit organisation working towards the conservation of freshwater chelonians and ecosystems in India through collaborative research, community action and education, and policy advocacy.
Freshwater turtle and tortoise populations are under severe pressures of extinction due to a myriad of anthropogenic threats; crucial yet easily accessible information on their ecology and habitat interactions are lacking even today.
FTTF was set up in 2019, with the very intention of conserving freshwater chelonians and their habitats through dedicated research, outreach and education. Our citizen science initiative with the India Biodiversity Portal is currently the most comprehensive platform for information and resources on India's Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises.
Through our work, we strive to build a network of people committed to the study, protection, and conservation of freshwater ecosystems in India.
ASAP Species That We Work On
What We Do
Freshwater turtles and tortoises are one of the most threatened vertebrate taxa, and are significantly exploited in illegal pet trade and food markets. We consistently work to fill up the lacunae in freshwater turtle and tortoise ecology in India by focused research with a firm emphasis on their interactions across freshwater landscapes.
We aim to conserve these species through innovative and effective training programs and capacity building exercises of various stakeholders and increase citizen science participation from local communities for biodiversity mapping.
Through our projects and initiatives, we continue to conduct outreach activities and interactions across various groups of schools, colleges, children and local communities to spread awareness, foster positive attitudes for freshwater chelonians of India and combat immediate threats to chelonians and their freshwater ecosystems.
Where We Work
We currently have active projects across Northeast India, studying freshwater turtle populations along the Brahmaputra river basin, as well as collecting information on local populations of the Elongated Tortoise in the forests of Assam, and Asian Giant Tortoise in Meghalaya.
We also work on the Leith’s Softshell turtle, India’s only endemic softshell turtle, conducting distribution and status surveys in Maharashtra.'
Photo Credits
Featured image: Nilanjan Chatterjee