“There is a marked upward trend,” he said.

He told the Daily Mirror that every year turtles used to visit the coastal line for laying eggs.

“However, there is a trend towards increased egg-laying in the Galle Face Green Coast area now,” he said.

He said that there could be more than 2,000 eggs have been buried in the western coastal line.

“One of the biggest problems in Sri Lanka is human poachers, who mishandle the eggs to sell to turtle sanctuaries or locals as a source of food or medicine,” the Director-General said.

The wildlife regional offices in the Western Coast area have launched a project to conserve the area or collect the eggs from the poachers.

The Wild Life Department has launched a program to protect the eggs considered a resource. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)