28/04/2006

The 26th International Symposium for Sea Turtles finished with great success in Crete.

Sea turtles are a very ancient but also cosmopolitan species. They lived together with dinosaurs and survived for 65 million years, and they are found today in all warm seas of the planet.

To an equally cosmopolitan species belong all 700 delegates who arrived in Crete from 76 countries to take part in the great Annual Symposium which took place for the first time in a Mediterranean country (Greece) and particularly in Crete where important Mediterranean beaches of Caretta caretta, as well as in Zakynthos, are located.

The International Symposium is not only a scientific meeting of specialists in sea turtle biology and ecology but also a forum for those concerned about the protection of sea turtles and a race against time to avert their obliteration from the seas and oceans of the planet.

In a special session for the Mediterranean, the contribution of the local communities in sea turtle protection was stressed with bright examples from Tsirali of Turkey, where the local agricultural corporation plays a leading role in the conservation of an ecological model for the area, from Kefallonia with the work of the Society “Katelios” and from Platania of Chania, where the local community assists turtle reproduction with various actions (limitation of lights, etc).

In a resolution the Symposium asked the Greek government to take the responsibility to restore the regular operation of the National Marine Park of Zakynthos.

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