You may have heard of endangered sea turtles in the Mediterranean, where 2 different species of sea turtle breed: the loggerheads and the green turtles. Unfortunately, in recent years, people have made their survival difficult. Sea turtles are often accidentally caught and killed in fishing gear. Plastic marine litter affects their health and tourism occupies their nesting beaches. Climate change means more troubles for the sea turtles. Global sea levels are expected to rise and narrow nesting beaches may be lost underwater. Their populations will be decreased due to the rise of the temperature of the sand, which affects hatching as well as the sex ratio of hatchlings.

Greece hosts almost half of the loggerhead nests laid in the Mediterranean every year. The protection of nesting beaches contributes greatly to the conservation of sea turtle populations. Through the projects of ARCHELON, approximately 75 kilometers of coast are supervised every summer in Zakynthos, Crete (Rethymno, Chania, Messara) and the Peloponnese (Kyparissia, Koroni, Lakonikos), where we make sure that:

Reproduction success each year is affected by extreme weather events, severe soil erosion and predation by wildlife but also by human activities on nesting beaches. With your help, we record and protect sea turtles, their nests and turtles on nesting beaches, as well as treat injured or sick turtles at the Rescue Center.

We invite enthusiastic and dedicated people to participate as volunteers in the projects of 2022. "This is a great 6-month effort made by ARCHELON every year, since 1984, to record and protect the nesting of sea turtles in the most important habitats of Greece. Many of us are involved all year round in the organization, execution and evaluation of field projects" says the Director of ARCHELON, Dafni Mavrogiorgos.

More than 500 volunteers from all over the world participate every year in the field projects of ARCHELON. Not only do they protect the nests but they also provide information and information material to visitors from the ARCHELON information stations. They also carry out systematically presentations in hotels in order to raise the awareness of the visitors.

See the requirements and download the project brochure here (in English)

If you are interested in an internship, please consult the Internships page as well.

If you already have experience participating in a sea turtle conservation project, there is an opportunity to participate as a Field Leader. See what is the role of Field Leaders and apply until January 10th.