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Both green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nest in small numbers on the 190km Mediterranean coast of Israel. Although Sella (1982) stated that northern beaches were the most frequently visited by nesting turtles, at present levels, it is not possible to reliably define the most important nesting beaches. A national management programme was prepared by Meir and Kuller (1992) and has been implemented since 1993. The main threat to turtle nests is the intensive traffic of four wheel drive vehicles on the beaches, which is especially heavy on weekends. Other threats are predation by foxes and inundation by sea water during summer storms.

It is probable that urbanization and infrastructure development along the coastal plain are a threat to the young turtles emerging from the sand, being disoriented by terrestrial light sources. Heavy road traffic on the roads near the coast, as well as human activity on the beach at night, may disturb nesting female turtles.

Legal protection of marine turtles and their habitats in Israel is making progress. The recognition of the need to protect Israel's natural and landscape resources first led to the enactment of the National Parks and Nature Reserves Law in 1963. This law, which was first revised in 1992, and later in 1998, provides the legal structure for the protection of natural habitats, natural assets, wildlife and sites of scientific, historic, architectural and educational interest in Israel. The law provides a legal system for the establishment of nature reserves and for the listing of protected natural assets. According to this law it is illegal to destroy, possess, trade or harass any of the listed assets, unless given a special permit by the Nature and National Parks Protection Authority.

Seventeen reserves and national parks on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, including four important nesting beaches, are in different stages of declaration. Only 3 nature reserves and 2 national parks are legally declared. Out of 9 proposed marine reserves, none have yet been declared.

The marine environment is protected from pollution by three laws: Prevention of Marine Pollution by Oil Ordinance, Prevention of Marine Pollution (Waste Dumping) Law, and Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land Based Sources Law.

During the nesting season, the entire coast, excluding urban areas and some inaccessible sections, is surveyed each morning by Rangers from the Nature and National Parks Protection Authority. Field skills have been developed by a combination of participation in RAC/SPA programme conducted at the Lara Reserve in Cyprus and local training during field work, based on the manual on marine turtle conservation in the Mediterranean (Demetropoulos & Hadjichristophorou 1995). All nests discovered during the survey are excavated and eggs are translocated to the closest of two hatcheries either at Bezet in Western Galilee, or at Atlit on the Carmel coast. The hatcheries are protected against human activity by a simple fence and explanatory signs. Each nest is protected against predation with a cylinder of wire netting. Table 1 presents the number of nests protected and hatchlings released in each of the years 1993 to 1998, for both nesting species.

Hatchlings are released immediately after emergence, or on the following night, preferably at the original nesting beach. In those cases where the clutch was laid at a site unsuitable for future nesting, hatchlings are released at coastal nature reserves. Hatchlings are released backed by a V shaped screen made of a thick, opaque cloth, open to the sea. This enclosure facilitates the presentation of the release process to the public whilst avoiding the disorientation of hatchlings by terrestrial light sources.

To our knowledge, based on anecdotal evidence collected from fishermen, and data on stranded carcasses (20 green turtles and 17 loggerhead turtles; 1993 - 1998), the incidental catch of marine turtles along the Israeli coast is not high. In most cases, we were not able to define the cause of death because of the advanced state of decay of the carcasses. In addition to baseline monitoring and conservation measures, project staff are also involved in collaborative academic studies on temperature dependent sex determination and the molecular profile of Mediterranean loggerhead turtles. All baseline data collected in the project are accessible to any research on the subject.

Awareness and education programmes are considered important. The media in Israel informs the public of important events concerning the marine turtles. This includes news regarding the first nest in the season, first hatching, or the release of rehabilitated turtles. Public awareness is increasing. The public frequently attend hatchling releases, but since the number of nests is so low, the number of people involved does not exceed several hundred each season. On such occasions, a ranger gives a brief presentation regarding the biology of marine turtles, the need for protecting them and the aims of the project.

One of the educational programmes of our centre on Mount Carmel includes a study on marine turtles designed for school children. In this study, children follow the physical conditions in an artificial egg chamber, collect data on the translocated nests in the hatchery and attend the hatchling release. At the end of the study, they present a short report, emphasizing the threats to marine turtles on our coast and discussing means for their protection.

The small nesting sea turtle population of Israel is a relic of a much larger population. There is no direct evidence referring to the number of nests of both green and loggerhead turtles in the past, but some indication on the population size rises from a report on the fisheries in Palestine (Hornell 1935), according to which, nearly 2000 green turtles were hunted each year during the third decade of the 19th century, most being exported overseas. This massive over exploitation of sea turtles in the eastern Mediterranean is undoubtedly the reason for their being almost extinct on our beaches. The recovery of the marine turtle populations of Israel would be possible if we succeed in protecting at least some of the nesting sites along the coast. The only possible way to achieve this is by promoting the declaration of more nature reserves. This will enable us to protect the coast against the destructive traffic of four wheel drive vehicles, and limit the extension of the intense urbanization process.

Acknowledgements: Conservation of marine turtles in Israel would not be possible without the devoted involvement of the rangers of the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority.

DEMETROPOULOS, A. & M. HADJICHRISTOPHOROU. 1995. Manual on Marine Turtle Conservation in the Mediterranean. UNEP(MAP)SPA/IUCN/CWS/Fisheries Department, MANRE (Cyprus). 24pp.

HORNELL, J. 1935. Report on the Fisheries of Palestine. Crown Agents for the Colonies, London. 65pp.

MEIR, D. & Z. KULLER 1992. Management Program for the Marine Turtles. Israeli Nature Reserves Authority, 12pp (in Hebrew).

SELLA, I. 1982. Sea turtles in the eastern Mediterranean and northern Red Sea. In: K.A. Bjorndal (Editor). Biology and Conservation of Sea Turtles, Proceedings of the World Conference on Sea Turtle Conservation, Washington, D. C. 26-30 November 1979, pp. 417-422.