The first phase of the ‘Karşıyaka-Güzelyalı Beach Turtle Project, which is being launched in cooperation with Taşkent Nature Park and Telsim and with the support of Lapta Municipality, will be held on Friday, 6 August at Güzelyalı Public Beach, AjansCyprus reported.
At the event, which will be held on Güzelyalı Beach, one of the few sea turtle spawning grounds in the Kyrenia region, it will be possible to observe baby turtles emerging from their eggs. The event will start at 7pm this evening.
The second phase of the project includes reducing light pollution on Güzelyalı Beach, which is a turtle spawning area, and ensuring minimal damage to the beach from human impact.
Artificial light is the greatest threat to hatched turtles
Sea turtles are rare, with about one offspring in a thousand eggs having a chance to reach reproductive adolescence. After an average incubation period of 50 days, the hatchlings must be able to reach the sea immediately to survive. In order to be protected from predators and the sun, the hatchlings hatch after sunset and try to reach the sea by following the reflection of the moonlight on the sea, thus completing the first stage of their perilous journey.
However, these days, the increase in artificial lighting because of increasing construction on the beaches causes the baby turtles, which are sensitive to even the weakest light at night, to be disoriented and to perish by spending their limited energy.
Telsim Deputy General Manager Fevzi Tanpınar said: “Nature can only be protected and carried to the future with the implementation of [environmentally] sensitive projects”.
Tanpınar drew attention to the importance of every kind of support given in the struggle for the survival of sea turtles, which face the danger of extinction on a global scale, adding, “Within the scope of the joint project with Tashkent Nature Park, we support the adventures of sea turtles in laying eggs and hatching babies and reaching the sea”.
The director of Taşkent Nature Park, Kemal Basat said, “We are happy to be a part of such a project”.
What will the ‘Karşıyaka Güzelyalı beach turtle project’ do?
In the first phase of the ‘Karşıyaka Güzelyalı Beach Turtle Project’, which will be completed in two stages, the lights of the businesses in the region are coloured red in a way that will not disturb the turtles, the positioning of the coastal warning signs, the 24/7 monitoring of the nests by placing cameras in the area and the preparation of the infrastructure that will control vehicle access to the beach. .
In the second stage, the 450-meter-long main road running alongside along the seafront will be covered with a one-metre natural covering, preventing the headlights of vehicles from flooding the beach and restoring the dune habitats in the region.
