In this story:

• Demand for turtle products
• Poor odds for survival
• Related stories and sites

KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- About 1,000 green and olive ridley turtles crawl out of the Arabian Sea each year to lay their eggs on the Hawkes Bay and Sandspit beaches, about 15 miles (25 km) from Karachi. It is an arduous process filled with peril -- for both the adult turtle and the eggs.

It takes about three hours for a female turtle -- which weighs about 135 kilograms (300 pounds) -- to make its way out of the sea, dig a hole bigger than her meter-long (yard-long) body and lay her eggs. She then uses every ounce of strength she has left to return to the sea.

With luck, she will make it back to the water before poachers get her. But the eggs -- and the hatchlings -- are even more vulnerable. Sea gulls, wild dogs and many humans consider them a delicacy.

Giant green turtles and their smaller cousins, the olive Ridley, are both endangered. Both species -- two of the seven sea turtle species -- are protected under the Convention of International Trade, which prohibits trade in turtle products. But poaching abounds.

Demand for turtle products

"Their eggs are being stolen and (the turtles) are being exploited for commercial purposes," said conservationist Fehmida Asrar. "Their flesh is being used in various countries and their eggs are also being eaten. The shell is being used to make many precious items -- frames, ashtrays and other decorative items."

Asrar, who has been dubbed the Turtle Lady of Karachi, runs a turtle protection project for the Sindh Wildlife Department, along with a team of six helpers.

The team tags turtles and monitors their progress, conducts autopsies on those it finds dead, and nurtures the eggs until they hatch and can be released safely into the sea.

The program was launched in 1980 with funds from international conservation groups, but since 1983, funding has come largely from donations, with only staff salaries covered by the provincial government.

The program is critically short of money, Asrar said. The vehicle she uses to travel to and from the beaches breaks down often so she is forced to catch rides with friends to the site.

It is difficult to find anyone who will allow a hitchhiker to bring along a giant turtle carcass, so the she must carry out autopsies on the beach instead of in a proper lab.

In spite of the obstacles, the program struggles on, at a pace as lumbering and determined as that of a giant turtle.

Poor odds for survival

Asrar's six helpers live at the beaches and work almost around the clock during the peak egg-laying season, earning only a small wage for their efforts.

After the turtles lay their eggs, the team's first task is to transplant the eggs into protected enclosures for the 40-to-60 days it takes them to hatch.

Once they hatch, the workers scoop the baby turtles into buckets and carry them to the sea, as a further precaution against predators.

But even for those baby turtles that make it to the sea, life remains precarious. The chance of a green turtle growing into a mature adult is estimated at only .01 percent.

If they are not eaten by predators, the turtles can fall victim to their own appetites, choking to death on plastic products and other garbage that is increasingly found floating in the sea.

Education of the public about the plight of the turtles is key to their survival, said Asrar, who speaks at schools and leads groups out to the beaches to spread awareness about the importance of conservation.

Reuters contributed to this report.