Coordinated actions for sea turtles on the European coasts and seas of the Mediterranean continue
This is about the Life Euroturtles project, through which organizations from Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Malta and Cyprus are implementing actions to ensure the survival of sea turtles in the Mediterranean. The project runs within EU member states, it is funded in part by the European Commission and is in its fourth year of implementation.
ARCHELON is the Greek partner, cooperating with the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy and local agencies, and is already implementing the actions foreseen for 2020. The good news is that there will be external support for specific actions of the Life Euroturtles project this year.
We were just informed that with their decision No. 177.10.1 / 2020, the Board of Directors of the Green Fund of the Ministry of Environment and Energy have approved the co-financing of specific actions of the Life Euroturtles project, for the 4th year in a row. The actions are monitoring and protection of loggerhead nests in new areas and necessary equipment for the Rescue Centre.
The beaches in the north Kyparissia Bay, the shore of Kotychi lagoon, the coast of Evrotas and the coast of Preveza are areas of particular ecological and scientific interest in view of monitoring trends in sea turtle populations. In the first 3 years of implementation of Life Euroturtles, ARCHELON has recorded and protected a total of 1,825 loggerhead nests in collaboration with local authorities. This summer we have already started with drone flights launched to locate sea turtles in the sea and nests on the beaches. Temperature loggers are also being placed on these beaches to help determine, among other things, the percentage of male hatchlings.
Other actions of the Life Euroturtles project that ARCHELON will pursue include continuing work on the Action Plan for Sea Turtles in Greece, using of the new educational material in school units, and the installation of satellite transmitters on a few more sea turtles in order to determine their movements. It is noted that the Life Euroturtles actions do not concern the nesting beaches of Zakynthos, south Kyparissia Bay or Crete, in which ARCHELON has been continuously implementing monitoring and protection programs with volunteers since the 1980s.
World’s first for ARCHELON’s latest findings
Sea turtles return to nest on the beaches of Crete
RECENT NEWS
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- OUR NEWS24/02/2026
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When we analyzed the turtles’ codes, we realized that this was a turtle that had been tagged for the first time in the area 32 years ago! Specifically, turtle P4849 was tagged on July 7, 1993 and today is the turtle with the longest documented reproductive lifespan in Kyparissia Bay!
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- OUR NEWS11/02/2026
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A turtle we treated 10 years ago was found in Spain!
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