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Marine Turtle Newsletter 61:12-13, © 2001

Conservation Efforts for Chelonia Mydas in Turkey

Alice Carswell
The Society for the Protection of Nature P.K. 18, Bebek 80810, Istanbul, Turkey

Chelonia mydas, the green turtle, is one of two species of marine turtle that regularly nest in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean population has suffered a severe decline in recent decades and is now regarded as "acutely threatened". Commercial harvesting, loss of nesting habitat to sand extraction and beach-front development, marine pollution, and the incidental catch of turtles have combined to drastically reduce the eastern Mediterranean population. Up to 15,000 turtles were taken from the nesting beaches around Mersin to supply the Central European market (exported from the port of Iskenderun) between 1952 and 1965. Older residents of Kazanli remember this annual harvest: females were turned onto their backs when they came ashore to nest, and were subsequently transported by truck to Iskenderun (Baran and Kasparek, 1989). Data on population size are fragmentary, but a decline in the number of nesting females is reported by Baran and Kasparek (1989) who compared previous data with nesting crawl counts during their 1988 survey.

A 1988 WWF survey of the Turkish coast identified four important Chelonia mydas nesting sites in the north-east Mediterranean (Baran and Kasparek, 1989). These are the only remaining rookeries of any significance for this species in the Mediterranean basin (Groombridge, 1988). Kazanli, near Mersin, is considered crucial to the survival of Chelonia mydas in the Mediterranean and is unique due to the very high nesting density on a 0.5 km stretch of beach. The 4 km beach at Kazanli supports 100-150 nests per year, surpassed by only one other Mediterranean beach, Akyatan, with an estimated 300 nests per year (Whitmore, 1991). All four Chelonia beaches are under threat and conservation measures are sorely needed. Despite its significance as a breeding area, Kazanli beach enjoys no protection status. The beach has been severely narrowed in recent years by man-induced erosion and encroachment by agriculture. In addition, industrial effluent from nearby factories includes calcium chloride which washes onto the beach and solidifies it (i.e., transforms the loose sand into a sticky solid). Finally, photo-pollution from factories and Kazanli town cause widespread disorientation of emerging hatchlings, organic material accumulated on the beach attracts predators, and plastics and other debris block hatchlings on their short run to the sea.

The Society for the Protection of Nature (DHKD), an Istanbul-based conservation organization, has been lobbying the Turkish Government since 1986 to implement conservation measures recommended by scientific experts at 17 important nesting sites for Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta in the Mediterranean. Since 1990, the Turkish Ministry of Environment's Sea Turtle Commission (founded as a result of DHKD's conservation efforts) has been making recommendations to the Turkish Government to initiate an effective conservation strategy. In 1992, a field-based conservation project at Kazanli (one of the 17 sites mentioned above) was carried out by DHKD with the financial support of WWF-International, the British Turtle Fund, and local businesses. The 1992 Kazanli project focussed on saving hatchlings that would otherwise be lost to photo-pollution through the provision of light-screens to the owners of lights visible from the beach. Public awareness activities were intensified and volunteers were recruited from the local community to participate in a rescue of disoriented hatchlings.

As a direct result of the project, photo-pollution was considerably reduced for the first time. Many of the factory lights were turned off and light screens were installed over municipal and other lights. This is believed to be the first time such measures have been introduced in Turkey and it is hoped that they will be extended and will spread to other sites where similar problems of disorientation occur. Despite measures taken at Kazanli, photo-pollution was not completely eliminated. To prevent the loss of disorientated hatchlings, a small barrier was constructed behind the beach. Trained volunteers patrolled the beach throughout the night (August to September 6) and retrieved hatchlings "trapped" by the barrier. More than 2,000 hatchlings were found at the barrier and were released to areas of the beach where light pollution was limited and from where they were able to enter the sea. Some hatchlings returned to the beach without human assistance after their journey inland was blocked by the barrier. An added benefit was that patrolling by the volunteers probably reduced depredation by feral dogs.

The 1992 project can only be regarded as an emergency action. DHKD will continue its lobbying and public awareness activities and it is hoped that local sympathy and support for the green sea turtle at Kazanli -- which has been enhanced by national media coverage -- will be channeled into long-term conservation. Ultimately, however, the survival of this rookery and the species in the Mediterranean as a whole depends on the Turkish government addressing the major environmental problems.

Baran, I., S. H. Durmus, and M. K. Atatur. 1991. On Chelonia mydas (L.) (Reptilia:Chelonia) Population of Mersin-Kazanli Region. Doga-Tr. J. Zool. 15:185-194. TÜBITAK.

Baran, I. and M. Kasparek. 1989. Marine Turtles Turkey. World Wildlife Fund.

Groombridge, B. 1988. Marine Turtles in the Mediterranean: Distribution, Population Status, Conservation. World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge.

Langeveld, M. and G. Sangül. 1988. Sea Turtles Nestinq on the Beaches of South-East Turkey. Society of the Advancement of Oceanography in the Netherlands (SBNO), Amsterdam.

Smart, A. and S. Coley. 1990. Kazanli Turtle Project 1990. University of Leicester, U.K.

Whitmore, C. 1991. Kazanli Coastal Zone Situation Report. DHKD, Coastal Management Section, Istanbul.