16th of June: TARTADAY!!
TartaLife and Life Caretta Calabria toghether for the World Sea Turtle Day. Leave you picture at: https://www.facebook.com/tartalife
World Sea Turtle Day, June 16, is a day used to honor and highlight the importance of sea turtles.
World Sea Turtle Day would not be rightfully celebrated without mentioning, Dr. Archie Carr, STC’s founder and “father of sea turtle biology.” World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated the same day as Dr. Carr’s birthday, June 16. Dr. Carr will forever be remembered for the enhancement of the sea turtle conservation movement and the legacy he has left behind.
In this day TartaLife and Life Caretta Calabria merge their efforts for awareness campains and conservation activities.
In recent years the conservation of Caretta caretta, the most common species in our waters included in the Habitats Directive and protected by numerous international conventions, has become a strategic issue for the Mediterranean basin . The main threats to the conservation of the species are represented by the bycatch, the maritime traffic, plastic ingestion, degradation and urbanization of the coast, resulting in damage to nesting sites.
The activities conducted by the two projects in the first two years of activity are providing valuable information on the species biology and on the possible management measures. In particular data on catches, interviews with fishermen and an increase in intervention of recovery centers along the Italian coast, describe an increasingly alarming situation (something like tens of thousands of capture events for each year in the Italian waters ). A undamental factor for the success of the activities will be the cooperation of fishermen, the main actors of the two projects and primarily responsible for the conservation of this species.
Based on the experience carried out in recent years, the TartaLife project and the LIFE Caretta Calabria project plan to launch joint communication messages to raise public awareness on major issues affecting the conservation of marine turtles and on the measures developed in two projects: fishing, with the reduction of incidental catches taken with longlines, trawls and passivenets, the reduction of post catch mortality, through the strengthening of recovery centers and the training of fishermen and operators of the centers, until the protection of nesting areas, which it must be protected from coastal erosion, mechanical beach cleaning, and where necessary, the promotion of a tourism attentive and governance in harmony with proper coastal management. For this reason, on the occasion of TartaDay, we invite all those who read and who care about the preservation of sea turtles, to join the campaign to raise awareness and mobilize to send, via social (facebook, twitter, instagram ....), photos bearing a message in favor of the conservation of turtles: the listed problems are many, but solutions are available.
In addition to the campaign on social networks, at the recovery centers operating throughout the Italian peninsula , from Emilia Romagna to Sicily via Puglia , Sardinia and Calabria , it will be possible to participate in visits and meetings thanks to the many planned events. The events of Tarta -Day, which will extend from June 16 to Sunday, June 19 , are available on the websites of the two projects. In addition, during the day it will be possible to see turtle releases and to visit the recovery centers.
Send you picture to: https://www.facebook.com/tartalife
