Project results

The Mediterranean is our responsibility: volunteers and partners actively contributed to the administration, organization and implementation of conservation activities.

• 465 volunteers participated in the 8 summer Field Projects, including the 38 Field Leaders. Most of the volunteers were from France, Britain, Greece, the Netherlands, and the USA but also some came from South Africa, China and Indonesia.
• 75 volunteers from abroad and 28 local residents supported the rehabilitation and public awareness activities at the Rescue Centre.
• 20 partners had the main burden of administration, management and coordination of all actions. Also, 15 ARCHELON members supported the actions participating in the Board of Directors, the Scientific Committee and the other Committees and Working Groups of the Association.
• The actions of attracting and training volunteers and Field Leaders, evaluating and organizing the projects, finding resources and raising public awareness continued throughout the year. 135 interns from 72 Educational Institutions were accepted as volunteers in the Field Projects and the Rescue Centre.

We surpassed ourselves in many areas! The recording, protection and rescue of sea turtles across the country continued successfully.

• In approximately 100 km of coast in Zakynthos, Peloponnese and Crete that are systematically monitored, approximately 10,500 Loggerhead nests were recorded in 2023. In reference, in 2022 only 5,750 nests were recorded in the same areas! In most of them protection with cages was applied during incubation and in several it was necessary to take protective measures for the hatchlings against light pollution.
• Tagging of the nesting females on specific beaches continued. In fact, a turtle that was first observed in Zakynthos in 1986 was recorded once more to make its nest in 2023, confirming for the first time worldwide a full 37 years of reproductive life for the species.
• The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre hosted a total of 61 injured or sick turtles, of which 16 had come in previous years, and 45 arrived at the Rescue Centre in 2023. 22 recovered turtles returned to the sea, 15 turtles died, and the remaining 24 are still being treated.
• The recording of sea turtle strandings continued in cooperation with the Coast Guard. The number of dead turtles reported with the help of citizens and other environmental organizations across the country reached 983.
• The effort to complete and upgrade the infrastructure of the Rescue Centre continued. One carriage was rebuilt and fully equipped, which now has three new workstations and a new meeting area, a new intensive care unit with 8 tanks was created, a special food preparation/laundry area was created and a new seawater heating system for the tanks was installed with solar panels.

Our message reached 95,000 people who communicated with us and supported our actions, and collaborations on research and environmental issues increased significantly.

• In the 7 Field Projects that took place in Zakynthos, Peloponnese and Crete, the volunteers informed 70,740 people about the importance of protecting sea turtles. 8 ARCHELON Information Stations operated. At the same time 590 presentations were made in tourist accommodation facilities and boats that follow the guidelines for sea turtle conservation.
• There was great interest in our work at the Rescue Centre from Greek and foreign visitors. We welcomed 12,858 visitors who were informed by the volunteers during visiting hours and 534 supporters who participated in the SEA TURTLE RESCUE TOUR, reaching a total of 13,392 visitors for 2023.
• Participation in educational activities at the Rescue Centre exceeded all previous results during the 2022-2023 school year, reaching 12,000 students and teachers. There were 245 school classes from Attica that visited the Rescue Centre in person and 97 schools from the rest of Greece that participated in a live online tour.
• In collaboration with the TUI Care Foundation, the application of international criteria for the Certification of Turtle-Friendly Hotels on nesting beaches began, and was piloted in North Crete (Rethymnon and Chania).
• ARCHELON participated in the "Alliance for the Amvrakikos Gulf '' initiative in collaboration with other agencies and the Amvrakikos Protected Areas Management Unit of NECCA with the aim of improving the management of the wetlands in the area.
• We participated in the 42nd International Sea Turtle Symposium held in Cartagena, Colombia. We also participated in an ICCAT (International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) Workshop in Malaga, Spain, which aimed to issue a report on the impact of tuna fishing on sea turtle populations in the Mediterranean.
• The scientific work of ARCHELON was enriched with 12 new publications in scientific journals.