XELONOPAREA SUMMER CAMP: AN UNFORGETTABLE MEMORY
It was early Saturday morning on August 1st when ARCHELONʼs youth group, XELONOPAREA started putting up camping tents and setting up their campground under the olive trees in the MELTEMI Camping area, besides the Mavrovouni beach on Lakonikos Bay. The sea turtles Caretta caretta have chosen this same coast to nest since thousands of years.
On the other hand, itʼs been more than 25 years since ARCHELON volunteers have been there protecting it. Again this summer season, XELONOPAREA joined forces with them and the young volunteers experienced 8 very intensive days with the adult field volunteers, taking part in all efforts made for the protection of the nests.
Of course the activitiesʼ list was far more extended; the members of XELONOPAREA took a daily trip around Mani, visited -among others-the traditional villages and hiked the path to the lighthouse of Cape Tenaro (the most southern point of continental Europe).
The highlight of the camp was undeniably the release of “Filippos” into the sea, a young Caretta caretta brought especially for that purpose from the Rescue Center in Glyfada.
This summer camp illustrates an example of the environmental education and awareness for children and young people at national level (participants came from Athens, Crete, Lakonia, etc). Using the powerful experience of the every day life and the challenging activities with the other volunteers in the camp, it achieved something indeed unique: to promote cognitive learning, to capture environmental knowledge by vivid and enjoyable means.
The variety of activities introduced and the procedures followed served efficiently the goals and aims of Environmental Education as a whole, in terms of social, emotional, kinetic, learning and mental dimensions as well as those set by the Members of ARCHELON Environmental Education Team.
The structure of our daily program included many workshops and projects (film projections, photographs, building protective cages for the nests, recreational games, cultural visits around Mani, etc) that also put our selected educational and information resources into practice.
In addition, the learning and interaction activities, functions and tools used (keeping a diary, original observation and field work, obtaining information from the sources, presentations, demonstrations, etc) helped participants to envisage new possibilities for more sustainable relations with nature. Itʼs true; our bond with nature becomes much deeper when we are directly engaged in its cycles.
The tireless efforts of the people who volunteered and ran the programme, Olga Karadaki, Dina Zafeiri, Thanassis Benos-Pamer, Constantinos Lygeros, Efie Skarmoutsou, Athina Tsekoura and Theodoros Benos-Palmer were also extremely significant and greatly appreciated. (TBP/ES)
STORIES OF TURTLE NIGHT MADNESS
BABY SEA TURTLES DIE AT THE BAY OF KYPARISSIA (AGIANNAKI)
RECENT NEWS
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World Tourism Day 2023: Are there sea turtle-friendly hotels in north Crete?
But why is tourism important to sea turtles?
- OUR NEWS15/09/2023
Lilo, the tiny green turtle, made it back to the sea!
In November 2021 a small green turtle arrived at the ARCHELON Rescue Centre with a very serious head injury. After almost two years of intensive care, one Wednesday in September 2023 he was finally discharged and returned to the sea!
- OUR NEWS17/08/2023
World record of 37 years of reproductive life for a loggerhead sea turtle in Zakynthos, Greece – increased number of nests this summer, says ARCHELON
ARCHELON – the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece announces an important outcome of the systematic work of this year's sea turtle nest monitoring team in Zakynthos. Based on their long-term observations, ARCHELON managed to certify a new World Record of reproductive activity for loggerhead turtles.
- OUR NEWS07/08/2023
ATTENTION! Sea turtles are not pets: Do not touch them or feed them!
The Municipality of Eastern Mani and the Port Authorities requested the assistance of ARCHELON to inform beach users in the area of Limeni, near Mani, where 35 new incidents of sea turtle attacks on sea bathers have been recorded during this summer season. These are added to the already long list of 200 such records of previous years found in the nearby Health Center in Areopolis.
- OUR NEWS01/08/2023
Interview with a volunteer: Lea Heinen, Rescue Centre
Interview with a volunteer: Lea Heinen, Rescue Centre Lea shares her experience volunteering at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Centre: “I think when a turtle starts to eat after a month of trying, when you can see the improvement or healing of a turtle's injury and when a turtle is released back into the sea, into its natural habitat, into its home - then you know that you are indeed saving turtles”.
- OUR NEWS21/07/2023
Kids Beach Competition 2023: Make your own little sea turtle with natural materials and send us a photo!
Help us spread the message about the protection of sea turtles by making your own baby turtles with natural materials you will find on the beach. Sand, stones, pebbles, shells, seaweed, sticks and whatever else you have available, can be transformed with a little imagination! Take a photo of your work and send it to the ARCHELON Beach Competition.
- OUR NEWS18/07/2023
Paving the way for next steps in conservation of marine turtles in the Mediterranean region
Last week the partner organizations of the project “Conservation of Marine Turtles in the Mediterranean Region” met for the 9th Steering Committee Meeting. The meeting was organized by SPA/RAC in the area of Kyparissia Bay, Greece on the 4th and 5th of July, 2023 in collaboration with ARCHELON.
- OUR NEWS04/07/2023
An offer to EXPERIENCED volunteers: You can now join the beach projects for 2-3 weeks!
The time is just right to join the projects again, even if you have only 2 or 3 weeks of available time. This offer is valid for August, September, October 2023. Apply through our new website and find out more about the dates and places you can join. More…
- OUR NEWS22/06/2023
The nesting season has begun! Learn what you can do if you find sea turtle tracks or nests on the beach
The nesting season for the loggerhead sea turtles has begun. The nests that are made in the areas monitored by ARCHELON and other collaborating groups are already being recorded. However, if you find tracks or nests on other beaches, you can also participate in the effort to record and protect these sporadic nests. Find out why it's important…
- OUR NEWS16/06/2023
A breath away from registering a new world record on the years of known active reproduction of a loggerhead sea turtle is ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece
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- OUR NEWS15/06/2023
A Saturday unlike any other - Turtle Festival 2023
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- OUR NEWS07/06/2023
Announcement for all past volunteers of ARCHELON: Shall we meet this September?
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- OUR NEWS07/04/2023
Waiting list for schools that want to visit the ARCHELON Rescue Centre
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- OUR NEWS28/03/2023
People are supporting wildlife conservation
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- OUR NEWS24/03/2023
Gail Schofield
We learned with deep sadness the passing away of Gail Schofield, a pronounced sea turtle researcher and former ARCHELON volunteer. Read more…