Turtle Conservation in Greece
Loggerhead Sea Turtle conservation on the beautiful Greek island of Kefalonia.Duration
2-6 weeks (April to October)
Price
from £650
Location
Kefalonia, Western Greece
Provider
In brief
The project focuses on sea turtle conservation on the beautiful Greek island of Kefalonia, by monitoring and protecting the island’s endangered loggerhead sea turtles. Volunteers get involved in a range of hands-on conservation activities which support the project’s work to identify and reduce the threats to the turtle population.
Volunteer role
Volunteers support the work of the local conservation team and tasks include:
- Surveying beaches to find, record and protect turtle nests (in nesting season)
- When turtles hatch, protecting the tiny hatchlings from light pollution and ensuring they can crawl safely to the sea (in hatching season)
- Making nest inventories to assess the hatching success of each nest (in hatching season)
- Surveying the harbour
- Observing and recording turtle behaviour
- Measuring the level and source of light pollution, a key threat to turtles
- Measuring changes to the beach profile
- Beach clean ups – collecting plastic
- Helping educate locals and visitors about the threats to turtles
Your role will depend on the turtle season which are:
- Mating season – April to May
- Nesting season – end of May to mid-August
- Hatching season – mid-August to October
Other volunteers
You will be volunteering with between 25-35 volunteers at each field station.
Working days and location
You will volunteer 5 days a week with two days off to relax and explore the island.
You’ll be living on the friendly island of Kefalonia, with its sandy beaches, rugged scenery and surrounded by the warm crystal blue waters of the Ionian Sea.
Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) award
This placement has been approved by the DofE as meeting the requirements for the Residential section of the Gold Award.
