T-PVS/Files (2005) 10
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Marine Turtle Conservation in the Mediterranean Report on Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Conservation Monitoring in Kazanli, Turkey Submitted to: The 25th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) October 3rd 2005 MEDASSET The Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles Prepared by Dr Max Kasparek 1.
INTRODUCTION
The conservation of marine turtles in the Mediterranean has been under the scrutiny of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) since the mid-1980s, and the Convention has been instrumental in preserving nesting and feeding habitats particularly in some eastern Mediterranean countries, where two endangered species of marine turtles (loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, and green turtle, Chelonia mydas) are found. Chelonia mydas is listed as globally endangered in IUCN’s latest assessment (2004), and the Mediterranean population is regarded as critically endangered. Only 200–300 nesting females remain. Whilst 99 percent of all recorded nesting in the Mediterranean occurs in Turkey, Cyprus and Syria, 80 percent of all nests are concentrated at only seven key nesting beaches, thus making the population highly vulnerable (Kasparek & al. 2001 and unpubl. information). Turkey has by far the largest share of the Mediterranean population, and nesting is mostly concentrated on four beaches: Akyatan, Kazanli, Yumurtalik and Samandag. To encourage action for the conservation of the green turtle at these Turkish nesting grounds, the Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) opened a case file at its 20th Meeting in 2000. Since 1992 MEDASSET’s regular surveys, as part of a long-term monitoring programme of the Mediterranean turtle nesting beaches, have exerted pressure on the Turkish Government for enhanced protection and conservation. In 2005 MEDASSET continued these field assessments, by collecting information on the current conservation status in order to update the Convention regarding Turkey’s green turtle nesting beaches. This report examines the recent situation, gives recommendations for conservation and management, and focuses on the Convention’s protective role towards the green turtle nesting beach of Kazanli. The Kazanli nesting beach has been a focal point of the Convention since MEDASSET brought to its attention the release of toxic waste onto the nesting beach and into the sea from the beachside soda-chrome factory in 2001. This beach had been subject to gradual degradation for many years, without significant action by the Turkish authorities to stop the process. Since 2000, the situation has improved under the leadership of a new local administration. Both the Bern Convention and MEDASSET have contributed significantly to these improvements.
2. OVERALL NESTING SITUATION IN 2005 In Kazanli, only 38 Green Turtle nests were recorded in 2005 (Caglayan Elmaz, pers. comm.), which, when compared with previous years, is an extremely low number: between 74 and 216 nests were recorded in the years between 1988 and 2000 (Kasparek & al. 2001), and over 350 nests in 2004. It is widely accepted that the number of green turtle nests on single nesting beaches can vary greatly from year to year. 2004 saw the highest number of green turtle nests in the entire Mediterranean, simultaneously recorded throughout the nesting beaches in Turkey, Cyprus and Syria. Likewise, extremely low nesting took place at all nesting sites in Turkey, Cyprus and Syria in 2005.