Belek seaside in Türkiye’s tourist-hub Antalya, famend as the most important nesting floor for the caretta caretta species within the Mediterranean Basin and residential to one of many world’s endangered species, witnessed a heartening sight as roughly 153,000 hatchlings made their option to the ocean from 4,126 nests.
Caretta carettas, categorized as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) checklist, discover their principal nesting websites alongside the Antalya coast, notably in Belek.
The concerted efforts of assorted stakeholders together with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks (DKMP), the sixth Regional Directorate of DKMP, universities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and volunteers have been essential in supporting the conservation initiatives for caretta carettas throughout a number of seashores over a number of years.
The Ecological Research Association (EKAD), in collaboration with the Belek Tourism Investors Association (BETUYAB) and governmental assist, has devoted 25 years of labor alongside the 30-kilometer (18.64-mile) stretch of Belek seaside and the adjoining 16-kilometer Manavgat Kızılot seaside over the past three years. This collective effort has yielded a outstanding improve in nest numbers and hatchlings.
Ali Fuat Canbolat, President of EKAD from Hacettepe University, disclosed that the 2023 caretta season, commencing with the primary nest formation in May, concluded in early October. Notably, Belek seaside recorded an increase from 1,600 nests final 12 months to 2,350 nests this 12 months, marking a 32% improve. Similarly, Kızılot seaside noticed an escalation from 1,500 nests final 12 months to 1,776 nests this 12 months, indicating a 16% rise. Canbolat expressed, “83,000 baby sea turtles reached the sea at Belek beach, and 70,000 at Kızılot beach, totaling 153,000 hatchlings across both beaches.”
These hatchlings, as soon as grown, return to their nesting seashores after 20-25 years. A feminine caretta caretta sometimes lays round 100 ping-pong ball-sized eggs in a nest, with a mean of fifty% hatching. Alarming human-induced pressures on the seaside setting endanger these hatchlings, with solely two out of each thousand efficiently reaching maturity after making their option to the ocean.
Source: www.dailysabah.com