International Protection

Because sea turtles migrate, it is important to have uniform international instruments, protecting them regardless of geographical boundaries:

-    The CITES Convention prohibits the international trade of endangered species of wild      fauna and flora.  All the species of sea turtles are protected under this instrument.
-    The Bern Convention: for the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats.
-    The Bonn Convention:  for the conservation of migratory species of wild animals.
-    The UN Conference on Environment and Development & its plan of action: Agenda 21.
-    The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Classification considers all the species        of sea turtles except one*, as endangered or critically endangered.

These conventions are directed at states, who are then responsible for their implementation.  However, in reality this does not always work because of the lack of financial means, political will or interest. So despite the large theoretical legal protection, sea turtles continue to face threatened extinction.

Regional protection

In addition to international conventions, it is also important to have regional instruments, as every region has it specific difficulties concerning the conservation of its species.

The most important instruments of the European Union concerning sea turtles are:

-    The Directive on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

-    The Natura 2000 network of protected areas to implement the Directive.

The Directive is especially important as it can be used to sue a member state when it violates its provisions. This is, for example, how Greece was condemned by the European Court of Justice in 2002 for the Zakynthos case.

In Europe, the Mediterranean Sea is the main biotope for sea turtles. Therefore, it requires some cooperation among all the Mediterranean countries to tackle its specific environmental regional issues:

-    The Barcelona Convention: for the protection of the marine environment and the coastal region of the Mediterranean.

-    The Protocol for the specially protected areas and the Action Plan for the conservation of marine turtles.

National protection

In the concerned countries, laws and action plans have to be adopted to locally implement the international instruments protecting the sea turtles, including:

-    Marine strategies, hunting provisions, etc.
-    National parks, protected areas, etc.

These measures are the most detailed and concrete ones. However, they might not always be as protective as supra-national instruments, as states often prioritize economic interests such as mass tourism or polluting industry.  

*The IUCN Red List Classification does not consider the "flatback" turtle as endangered, because of  "data deficiency".