Project results

The Mediterranean is everyone's responsibility: volunteers and partners actively contributed to the management, organization and implementation of protection actions.

• 439 full-time and 19 part-time volunteers participated in the 8 summer field projects, including the 42 Field Leaders. Most of the volunteers were from France, England, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands, but there were also individual participants from South Korea, Australia and Canada.
• 62 international volunteers and 39 local volunteers (residents of Attica) supported the rehabilitation and public awareness actions at the Rescue Centre.
• 27 partners had the main burden of administration, management, and coordination of the implementation of all actions. Also, 15 Members participated in the Board of Directors, the Scientific Committee and other Committees and Working Groups, supporting the actions of the Association.
• The actions of attracting and training volunteers and Field Leaders continued throughout the year, as did the efforts to find resources, public relations/communication, evaluation and organization of the projects.
• 156 students from 52 educational institutions in Greece and abroad did their internship in the Field Projects and the Rescue Centre.

The recovery of the loggerhead sea turtle breeding population in Kyparissia Bay has been confirmed which, with the consistent long-term protection of the nests by ARCHELON, managed to exceed previous limits! The monitoring, protection and rescue of sea turtles continued successfully throughout the rest of the country.

• On approximately 97 km of coastline in Zakynthos, the Peloponnese and Crete that are systematically monitored, approximately 13,000 Loggerhead nests were recorded in 2024, a number that exceeds any previous record in ARCHELON's 40 years of records! In most of the nests, 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 nesting beaches continued during the night shifts. In this way, 374 turtles were recorded and identified.
• In 2024, new satellite tracking of sea turtles began with the placement of 20 satellite transmitters on turtles on beaches in the Peloponnese and Crete, within the framework of the LIFE MareNatura project. Also, a satellite transmitter was placed on yet another Loggerhead, which this time returned to the sea from the Rescue Center, with the support of the TUI Care Foundation.
• A total of 69 injured or sick and injured turtles were rehabilitated at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre, of which 24 had remained from previous years, and 45 arrived at the Rescue Centre in 2024. 23 of them returned to the sea, 18 turtles died, while the remaining 28 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 1044.
• Researchers studying the sea turtle population in the Amvrakikos Gulf completed their work this year, measuring 180 turtles and tagging 47 for the first time. The project's goal is to understand the population dynamics through identification and biometric data collection.

Our message reached approximately 104,000 people who interacted with us and supported our actions.

• In the 7 Field Projects that took place in Zakynthos, the Peloponnese and Crete, the volunteers informed about 74,000 people about the importance of protecting sea turtles. 8 ARCHELON Information Stations operated and informational beach walks were organized on the nesting beaches with Greek and foreign visitors and residents. At the same time, information actions and presentations were carried out in the 94 cooperating tourist accommodations and boats that comply with the protection measures for turtles.
• There was great interest in our work at the Rescue Centre from Greek and foreign visitors. We welcomed 12,250 visitors who were informed by the volunteers during visiting hours and 713 supporters who participated in the SEA TURTLE RESCUE TOUR, reaching a total of almost 13,000 visitors for 2024.
• Participation in the educational activities at the Rescue Centre exceeded all previous results during the 2023-2024 school year, reaching 15,500 students and almost 1,400 teachers. 261 school classes from Attica participated who visited the Centre in person, while 200 schools from the rest of Greece participated in a live online tour.
• Over 1,600 aware citizens supported our work by making symbolic adoptions of sea turtles and nests, covering the cost of their protection.

Our collaborations on research and environmental issues at national and international level have increased significantly.

• Together with the Municipality of Rethymno, GRECOTEL HOTEL AND RESORTS and ECOCLUB SA, we presented at the 9th International Conference "Our Ocean" (OOC-9) held in Greece, the topic "Protecting Sea Turtles in Rethymno: Bridging Tourism and Conservation Efforts".
• We participated in the 42nd International Sea Turtle Symposium held in Pattaya, Thailand to exchange knowledge, share findings and strengthen international collaborations with all members of the International Sea Turtle Community.
• We launched a new initiative in collaboration with WWF Greece, within the framework of the "Alliance for Wildlife", for the assessment of the conservation status of sea turtle nesting areas.
• We participated in the LIFE MareNatura project "Conservation of priority species of marine megafauna in Greece and Italy", the largest project for marine biodiversity in Greece. ARCHELON's actions included satellite tracking of sea turtles, tissue sampling from turtles by the method of stable isotopes and training of NECCA staff through the Marine Conservation School.
• In cooperation with the TUI Care Foundation, the "TUI Turtle Aid Greece" program continued in northern Crete (Rethymno and Chania) in close cooperation with the tourism sector.
• Our participation in the "Alliance for the Amvrakikos Gulf" continued, in cooperation with other organizations and the corresponding Management Unit of NECCA, with the aim of improving the management of the wetland.
• 32 institutions, organizations and companies supported ARCHELON's work through donations.
• The scientific work of ARCHELON was enriched with 6 new publications in scientific journals.