1. The Athens Academy praises MEDASSET: The highest
Greek Academic Institution, at its Panegyric Meeting (held 30th December
2003) in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, bestowed
a Natural Sciences Commendation on MEDASSET for its “unstinting
work for the sea turtles of the Mediterranean”.
2. EUROTURTLE flies high! Europe’s first interactive, educational
and scientific website for conservation and biology of sea turtles (www.euroturtle.org),
is a joint venture between MEDASSET, Exeter University and King’s
College (Taunton). It received over 134,000 visitors in 2003 alone and
many awards and distinctions.
3. Meetings and Conferences: Many important gatherings were attended during the period, such as the ‘Group of experts on the Conservation of Amphibians and Reptiles’ held at Malmo, Sweden. The Bern Convention Standing Committee Meeting at Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, was attended for the 16th consecutive year. At the 24th Sea Turtle International Symposium, Costa Rica, a paper entitled ‘Zakynthos sea turtle odyssey – a political ball game’ was presented. In Greece, a ‘Workshop on the Rehabilitation of injured Sea Turtles in the Mediterranean’ was attended. A seminar on the ‘Protection of Sea Turtles in Greece’ was attended at the European Parliament. Other meetings were also attended during the course of this period.
4. Environmental education: In Greece, several Schools benefited from
talks given about the life cycles, conservation threats and our attempts
to help the plight of sea turtles. Several other articles were written
for the general public and specialist publications, to facilitate greater
understanding of concerns for our marine environment.
5. Zakynthos: Several Press Releases raised attention to the situation
on Laganas Bay, where funds were diverted away from the Zakynthos National
Marine Park (ZNMP) to help fund the Olympic Games. This resulted in
unacceptable conditions observed at the Park, leading to an Open Letter
sent to the EC Commissioner of the Environment detailing that ‘Total
Anarchy Reigns’ on Zakynthos nesting beaches. The BBC’s
World Service & Radio 4 carried interviews on the subject that went
global, and much feedback was received from as far away as New York
and Japan. The UK BBC 2 ‘Countryfile’ TV programme also
featured ‘the Zakynthos problem’, in which we assisted greatly.
It showed the levels to which recreational furniture, vehicles and tourists
were invading the beaches, and that furniture operators and local people
were actively obstructing and disrupting conservation measures. “Sign
our petition” was launched together with the German NGO EURONATUR,
asking the Government to make a long-term political commitment to guarantee
yearly funding to all Greek National Parks, provide them with the legal
authority to enforce conservation laws and regulations within their
boundaries and to create administrative structures that will enable
the Ministry of Environment to support the Parks. Currently, we have
15,000 signatures. Following our tireless efforts, a ‘Reasoned
Opinion’ letter was sent to the Ministry of Environment by the
EC. This is the last step in legal proceedings before financial penalties
are imposed. For more info you can visit our website (www.medasset.org).
6. ‘Sea Turtle Handling Guidebook for Fishermen’: The UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) Fishermen’s Guide has now been translated and produced in Greek by MEDASSET. With RAC/SPA funding the Guide has already been produced in English, French, Croatian and Turkish. Spanish, Slovenian and Maltese editions are in preparation. The Ministry of Merchant Marine and The Ministry of Environment are helping with the distribution. Fisheries are a major threat to the survival of endangered sea turtles in the Mediterranean. The waterproof guide provides simple and practical advice with illustrations to enable fishermen to deal with those turtles unfortunate enough to get caught.
7. Turtle stories: Dubrovnikgate, etc! The plight of individual captive
turtles has been highlighted again this year and, despite legislation,
the number continues to grow. Individual turtle ‘stories’
can be followed on our website. They are central to our concerns and
continue to receive our actions and efforts to better their quality
of life or seek their release from captivity.
8. Lebanon: Our research in 2003, included beaches in Lebanon for the
third successive year, as part of our on going work to assess potential
and known breeding beaches used by both the Green and Loggerhead marine
turtles. Working within the MedWet Coast Project, our activities included
education, with talks given to children and on-lookers, which generated
awareness to sea turtle biology and conservation. Also Lebanese staff
from the Ministry of Environment who work on the MedWet Coast Project,
were trained.
9. ‘Bal de Têtes’: Our annual fundraising Carnival Dinner, held at the prestigious Grande Bretagne Hotel, in Athens, was again a great success. Over 300 tickets were sold and photos of the event were published in 13 popular National newspapers and magazines. A raffle held at the event contained many prizes generously donated by many organisations and individuals.
10. Volunters: The year, as in previous years, has witnessed many volunteers,
both university students and school children, from all over the world
assisting in our efforts. We thank them greatly and wish them well in
their futures.
11. Publications, Conference Proceedings, Reports:
Eleven technical reports were produced, five of which, update assessments
regarding Zakynthos and Turkey, were presented to the Bern Convention
Standing Committee Meeting. Seven publications, including those in Conference
Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation
and the First Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles, were published
during this period with a variety of lead authors.
12. Grants – we thank the following people and organisations
most sincerely.
- Alexander Onassis Foundation
- Ariette Latsis
- British Chelonia Group
- Emmanuela de Nora
- GAWF, UK
- Glou Bros Co.
- J.T. International
- Kaleidoscope Publications
- Karenta Co. Ltd.
- Lily Venizelos
- M & P Jewellers
- Sfakianakis Co.
- Stavros Niarchos Foundation
- The A.G. Leventis Foundation
- The Marine Conservation Society, UK
- The Roger Vere Foundation, UK
- The Spears Charitable Trust, UK
- UNEP/MAP RAC/SPA
- We also thank, most sincerely, a large number of individuals and organisations
who donated in kind during the period – THANK YOU! .