This year's summer nighttime ban on activities, including entering the beaches, swimming and setting up tents came into effect in one of the beaches in the prominent Kemer district of Türkiye's Mediterranean gem Antalya, to safeguard the nesting of endangered sea turtles, according to the reports on Thursday.
Çıralı Beach in Kemer thus became the first beach to introduce the ban to protect endangered loggerhead sea turtles, also known as Caretta carettas.
From 9 p.m. in the evening until 6 a.m., the beach will be closed to nighttime swimmers and campers, and those violating the ban will be fined $5,276 (TL 109,785).
Türkiye's southern coast, particularly the Antalya region, which draws millions of foreign tourists every year, is known as home to loggerhead sea turtles and green sea turtles, two species listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) "red list" of endangered species.
While this year seven nesting points of Caretta carettas have been determined along the Çınarlı beach, one of the 10 best beaches in Europe, the bans also included post-twilight activities such as bonfires and loud activities to protect the turtles throughout the nesting and hatching seasons.
Kemer Governor Hüseyin Çam, witnessing the process of marking the nests, highlighted the exceptional value of the Çınarlı region, noting that it was one of the first areas determined among 23 conservation sea turtle nesting sites across Türkiye.
"As of the end of May this year, our turtles arrived and started to nest. Last year, more than 3,400 live sea turtle hatchlings from over 104 nests met the sea. We hope that at least 120 nests and more than 3,500 baby Caretta carettas will reach the sea this year," Çam said.
Adding that the ban would continue until Sept. 30, Çam pointed out that locals as well as the tourists arriving are aware of the notice.
"Naturally, our real target for (this area) is tourism, but we need to consolidate the ecosystem and human livelihoods while being able to protect the loggerhead sea turtles," he said.
Pointing out the continuous efforts in this direction, he thanked citizens and the district governorship.
Habip Altınkata, the head of the Ulupınar neighborhood and the president of "The Ulupınar Environmental Protection Association," on the other hand, noted that a volunteer team of some 10 individuals is preparing to continue to help these endangered creatures by boosting the previous year's numbers.
