As a result of the efforts conducted by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change in specially protected environmental areas, 14,807 baby sea turtles have been enabled to reach the sea as of this month.
Sea turtles (Caretta Caretta, Chelonia Mydas) choose the beaches of Göksu, Belek, Patara, Fethiye-Göcek and Köyceğiz-Dalyan Specially Protected Environmental Areas, which are also significant tourist regions in Türkiye, as their nesting grounds.
Each sea turtle that hatches returns to the same beach to breed and nest again. Therefore, the ministry through the General Directorate for the Protection of Natural Assets, meticulously continues its conservation activities in these specially protected areas.
Hacı Abdullah Uçan, general director for the Protection of Natural Assets, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that sea turtles are among the species protected by international agreements.
He noted that within the scope of the "Sea Turtles Conservation and Monitoring Project," which started in 1989 in specially protected environmental areas, conservation activities are carried out annually by the ministry. "Of the eight species of sea turtles living in the world, two species, Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas, come ashore on our Mediterranean beaches to lay eggs.
"Therefore, Türkiye is a very important country for the continuity of sea turtle populations in the Mediterranean," he said.
Regarding the nesting seasons of sea turtles, Uçan stated: "This year, due to the effects of climate change, the sea turtles' nesting season started a month earlier than in previous years."
Highlighting the increase in nest numbers during the nesting season, which started in mid-April in specially protected environmental areas, Uçan provided the following information on nest and hatchling numbers as of July:
"As of July, we identified the emergence of 14,807 baby sea turtles from 262 nests in the Göksu Delta, 2,146 from 2,102 nests in Belek, 157 from 490 nests in Patara, 471 from 145 nests on Fethiye beaches, and 12,000 from 749 nests in Köyceğiz Dalyan. Considering that hatchling emergences will continue until mid-September, we expect these numbers to increase to record levels."
Uçan stated that the conservation practices within the scope of the Sea Turtles Conservation and Monitoring Project, conducted by the General Directorate for the Protection of Natural Assets under the leadership of Minister Murat Kurum, will continue in the coming years, and the project will significantly contribute to the conservation of biological diversity.
Within the scope of the project, comprehensive studies such as identifying sea turtle nests, protecting them by caging, relocating endangered nests, and tagging adult turtles coming to nest are carried out by expert teams.
Additionally, awareness activities are conducted for personnel and tourists by tourism facilities.
