On the occasion of World Environment Day, Expresso talks to groups of youngsters who are doing their bit for the cause CSSTCN began about 30 years back, when a group of students working to save the endangered Olive Ridley turtles, got together to conduct activities of awareness and conservation on a larger scale. The group tries to get young student volunteers together to fight against technological advances, that have increased the threat to these animals, and made all the seven species of sea turtles critically endangered. The members of the group go for turtle walks every single night from Neelankarai to Besant Nagar during the hatching season, that extends from the latter part of December to end of April every year. Other volunteers, students and those interested from the public, join them during weekends. When they see nesting turtles, they collect the eggs and take them to a hatchery situated behind the Theosophical Society . ''The dangers include trawlers and their nets drown thousands of turtles every year, lights on the beaches, casuarina trees planted close to the high tide line, ports like the one proposed by the Tatas near Damra, Orissa, and sea walls that destroy long stretches of beach, '' says Akhila Balu, who helps in co-ordination at SSTCN. The organisation, apart from these activities, has also helped in research activities for students from WCC, Symbiosis Pune, Asian College of Journalism, and Pondicherry University . Awareness programmes and collaboration with other groups to save turtles are also held regularly . A voluntary group from Madras Crocodile Bank Trust led by Soham Mukherjee, joined MCBT a month back as a volunteer. He comes from Ahmedabad, and works in the area of captive care and management of animals. He has been a regular in the group of young people, who address various problems of the environment. The activities are conducted mainly by volunteers, who join in whenever they are free. However, there is no group as such. The volunteers come from Chennai, as well as from other cities. They help MCBT with a variety of activities which include visitor education and other daily activities whenever they can take some time out (which is mostly over weekends). Since they are all working or studying, they find it difficult to come and work regularly . They have a few volunteers who are zoology students. They come here and spend their vacation at MCBT, giving a hand in various activities. Most of them are also associated with other environmental groups..