Times: British tourists blamed for damage to turtles' haven

The Times
February 07, 2005

British tourists blamed for damage to turtles' haven

By Steve Bird and John Carr in Athens


FOR thousands of young British tourists, the white sandy beaches and
turquoise waters of the Ionian island of Zakynthos are the perfect setting
for revelry and holiday romance. Each summer the coastline is transformed
into an adult playground as tourists hold late-night beach parties before
dancing in the clubs and bars.


Map:
http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/pic...,177227,00.jpg


Their antics, though, are threatening the survival of the loggerhead turtle,
which has, since time immemorial, relied on the once tranquil coastline to
complete its rather more sedate breeding pattern.

Now the European Commission is taking the Greek Government to court for
failing to protect the unique habitat from the 200,000 British holidaymakers
who visit the island each year.

A month after his appointment, Stavros Dimas, the EU Environment
Commissioner, has threatened to impose a hefty daily fine on his country for
failing to safeguard the environment needed for the turtle, known as the
Caretta caretta, to thrive. He is awaiting a full written response from
Greece about what it will do to save the turtles' breeding grounds.

A European Court judgment three years ago condemned Greece for not
protecting the breeding grounds, particularly at Zakynthos's Laganas Bay.

The noise from beach parties and nightclubs is preventing turtles from
crawling on to the sands to bury their eggs. Instead, many are releasing
their eggs in the sea, where they will not hatch.

Those that do venture on to the beach guarantee their offspring only limited
odds of survival. Some eggs are smashed as the sand is churned up by beach
buggies, dug into by children or pierced by spikes from parasols.

The hatchlings that emerge after nearly two months face further perils.
Because the turtles rely on shimmering moonlight to guide their scamper to
the sea, many are becoming disorientated by neon lights from nightlife and
so head in the opposite direction, invariably to their deaths on busy roads.

So great was the concern for the survival of the species that the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched a campaign urging people to write to the Greek
Prime Minister to express their concerns.

"A total of 11,000 e-mails were sent to the Greek Government," Dr Susan
Lieberman, Director of Species at WWF, said. "We are delighted that the EU
has taken such decisive action against the Greek Government and now hope
this will force it to finally act to protect the habitat of these endangered
turtles.

"It is simply not acceptable that beaches once protected for turtles are now
the domain of sunbathers, swimmers and ice cream vendors."

Environmental campaigners in Greece are less optimistic.

"The situation at this stage could not be worse," Lily Venizelos, president
of the Mediterranean League for the Protection of Sea Turtles, said. She has
been battling the political and tourism establishments for more than 20
years. The European Commission gave Greece a December deadline to answer
charges that it was reneging on a promise to spend EUR90,000 (GBP60,000) on
a protected environmental park at Laganas Bay. "An answer was supposedly
given," Vasilis Kouroutos, the league's secretary said, "but we never saw a
draft. Even now we don't know what's in it. The Government gives us a
thousand excuses and nothing else."

MARINE MIGRANTS
- Zakynthos is one of the last and most important nesting areas in the
Mediterranean for the loggerhead turtle
- In summer up to 900 turtles lay eggs on the southern beaches of Laganas,
Gerakas, Sekania, Dafni, Kalamaki and Marathonisi
- The male turtle never leaves the sea
- Females return to the same beach 30 years later. Only one in a thousand
will reach the reproductive age of 30
- Loggerheads are highly migratory and make some of the longest journeys of
all marine turtle species


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspap...473042,00.html

I henceforth decree that all British Lager louts should remove their
summer sabbaticals to a less hostile shore

http://www.gototurkey.co.uk

I henceforth decree that all British Lager louts should remove their
summer sabbaticals to a less hostile shore

http://www.gototurkey.co.uk