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The Bay of Lakonikos in the Peloponnese hosts important nesting sites for loggerhead sea turtles. The research in this area has been running since 1983 and is one of the oldest conservation projects in the Mediterranean. The main threats for these nesting sites are predation of nests by mammals, destruction of nests through inundation by sea water and the destruction of the natural dune systems. Volunteers work in co-operation with the local authorities and the local community, promoting a model of sustainable development that will be beneficial to the local economy. Protection of nests against predation by mammals and/or inundation by sea water ensures that as many hatchlings as possible are added to the population each year, while public awareness activities help people adopt friendlier attitudes towards the natural environment and possibly reduce their environmental footprint in the area.
Ignorance is one of the greatest enemies of the Loggerhead turtle. When tourists don’t know their sunbeds are blocking access to the beach for nesting turtles or squashing the eggs underneath they continue to do so. Taking boat tours that chase the turtles putting them under a lot of stress is another thing easily avoided by going with operators that watch them without disturbing them too much. Volunteers play a very important part in educating tourists, encouraging them to stay off softer, sandier parts of the beach where the nests are, ensuring that sunbeds are removed every night and bright lights aren’t seen too close to the beach to disorientate the turtles. Monitoring the beach day and night stops people from disturbing the turtles and nests, keeps track of numbers and deals with any injured animals should they be found on shore.
Tourism is one of the largest sources of revenue for the Zakynthians so by encouraging the visitors to change their attitudes and habits they in turn will change the Greeks who will see the conservation of these marvellous species as a priority. The mindless killing of birds is also another activity that can be stopped by educating visitors on what’s happening on the island; a collective voice would embarrass the Greek government into action. Encouraging people to visit the island year round to appreciate its natural beauty, flora and fauna instead of merely during the summer months would extend the “tourist season”, after all ecotourism is fast becoming more and more popular and this island is perfect for it.
Raising funds and building the Sea Life Rescue Centre is another important project that needs advertising and encouraging. A centre so close to the where the majority of the Mediterranean’s Loggerheads nest would save countless numbers of injured turtles who would otherwise not survive the trip to Athens. It will also be a great place for people to visit year round and a centre to start the environmental education of local school children, the future generation of the island. The more volunteers and visitors we can attract for our partners the more interest the locals and world will take in Zakynthos for all the correct reasons.
The Bay of Lakonikos has also been the area where pilot projects, such as dune restoration, were launched. It was also the first area where collaboration with fishermen started in order to reduce turtle mortality as a result of their capture in fishing gear. We are dedicated to responsible tourism, and all of the projects that we support directly benefit the environment, the local community, or both. All projects are carefully chosen to offer our volunteers sustainable and responsible travel, with specific attention being paid to their involvement in the sustainability of all their practices / project goals.
All of our projects and expeditions issue the participants with clear guidelines on responsible tourism and ecotourism, all specific to the particular environment / region. These cover a number of issues, ranging from waste disposal in remote areas, recycling materials and buying from local businesses to not exploiting the area’s wildlife or harming the environment.
The owner of this company did a gap year trip in the early 90s which involved building a bandstand for a small village in Patagonia. While he was there, he realised the project was only helpful in developing the Western traveller as the village didn’t want a bandstand and only argued about who owned it. And so he set up a volunteer organisation which is useful to communities and provides them with resources and help with funding. Today, his projects offer travellers an opportunity to fully integrate into communities and to make a real long-term difference to the local people’s lifestyles.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
