Government announcements have just been made about the conditions of entry and stay in Greece, which will take effect from May 15, 2021. ARCHELON informs that the protection measures for COVID -19 concerning the participation in this year's projects on the nesting beaches and the Rescue Center will remain the same for everyone, regardless of their country of origin and whether or not they have been vaccinated. These are the following:

Everyone arriving at the ARCHELON camps or the Rescue Center, either from abroad or from Greece, must present a negative result in a molecular detection test of COVID-19, done within 72 hours before their arrival. The test results must be forwarded by e-mail to the Volunteer Officer, before the volunteer arrives. No one will be able to participate in the projects if the above are not observed.

Once the volunteers arrive at the camp or Rescue Center, they should remain in self-isolation for 7 days, using the designated areas carefully. Other team members will take care of their supplies, food, etc.

In the camps of ARCHELON and in the Rescue Center it is obligatory to apply social distancing and disinfection of spaces and hands and the use of a face mask as required by the public health measures in effect.

If, unluckily, the pre-arrival COVID-19 test comes out positive, the volunteer should contact the Volunteer Officer so that their participation can be rescheduled or canceled.

Although those who have a vaccination certificate are not expected to get sick themselves, it is known that they can be carriers of the virus and pass it on to others. The 7-day quarantine, upon arrival in the project, is an essential precautionary measure for the teams that live together and do field work or care work together.

Volunteers come to sea turtle nesting beaches to record and protect the nests from May until mid-October. "If even one person in each team gets sick, with or without symptoms, we will put the success of the project at risk. The recording and protection of the nests is not like tourism or any professional activity that can simply be postponed for later”, says Daphne Mavrogiorgos, Director of ARCHELON.

In 2020, ARCHELON managed to keep COVID-19 away from the projects and strives to achieve the same in 2021. "For this reason, we will not be accepting short-term participations from groups, new local volunteers and new families on the nesting beaches this year," says Chara. The participation of volunteers from Greece in these international projects is set to 3 weeks or more and it is expected to come strong for July and August.

"We are ready to deal with any new situation created by the pandemic," Daphne said. "And this is because it is really worthwhile to record the nests and take care of the turtles for another year. It will be hopefully a great summer for everyone and for the turtles. "

See the measures against COVID-19 HERE.

Download the program brochure HERE.

More information on becoming a volunteer HERE.