Research around the world has shown that the following threats can negatively affect sea turtle nesting:

• Beach furniture that remains at the beach after sundown limits the available space for nesting.
• Light pollution, i.e. artificial lights towards the beaches during night-time disorient mother turtles and hatchlings.
• Noise and presence of people at the nesting beach at night are a nuisance to mother turtles and hatchlings.
• Vehicles on the beach compact the sand and can affect successful nesting and hatching.
• Beach clean-ups with heavy machinery can affect successful nesting and hatching.
• Destruction of sand dunes degrades the natural nesting habitat.
• Planting of trees and coastal construction (ports, buildings, roads) change the physio-chemical composition of the sand, erode the sand, degrade the natural breeding habitat and affect successful nesting and hatching.

The most important nesting beaches in Greece are located within the European Natura 2000 Network Sites. In 1999 the National Marine Park of Zakynthos was established and in 2018 Kyparissia Bay was declared a Nature Protection Area by Presidential Decree. In these two areas, special protection measures apply to sea turtle habitats. In the rest of the nesting habitats the competent Municipalities can grant the “simple use” of the beach to local businesses, as long as some simple protection directions are followed during the sea turtle breeding period season. These measures include:

• the removal of beach furniture (loungers) after sunset,
• the prohibition of heavy machinery usage during beach clean-ups,
• the prohibition of vehicles on the beach,
• the reduction of light pollution and
• the prohibition of beach parties after sunset.

Given that there is extensive tourist activity on most nesting beaches of Greece, the implementation of the above measures is greatly dependent on the cooperation of the tourism sector. For this reason, every summer, ARCHELON puts in great efforts to inform, communicate and cooperate with local authorities and businesses for the protection of sea turtles at the nesting beaches.