Background

Thousands of sea turtles, whales, and other marine mammals, and more than 1 million seabirds die each year from ocean pollution and ingestion or entanglement in marine debris. In addition, the increasing anthropogenic activity linked to tourism, coastal urbanization and fishing, represents a threat to sea turtles and their reproductive sites on coasts. Thus, it is important to attract the interest of people in respect of the marine environment and the protection of turtles.

The Project

TartAmare is an organisation of volunteers working to protect Sea Turtles throughout Tuscany. TEF awarded their project to support their vital work of monitoring the Tuscan coastline for signs of Turtle nesting sites occurring in summer, with TEF funds going towards the acquisition of equipment including drones and data-loggers to allow more efficient and faster operations.

Meanwhile, the TartAmare team will also work on the rescue and care of injured individuals and the dissemination of information on marine biodiversity and its conservation through widespread environmental education campaigns.

The project started in July 2024 and ended in June 2025, reaching great results thanks to the incredible work of TartAmare.

Project Activities:

• Monitoring of emergence traces (from June to August 2024): utilizing drone-assisted
  patrols along over 80 km of coastline to identify and verify turtles’ tracks. The use of drones substantially improved the accuracy and efficiency of detecting sea turtle nesting activity;
• Monitoring and protection of nests (between June and October 2024): the deployment of Bluetooth
  dataloggers allowed for efficient, non-invasive nest temperature monitoring, and for optimized hatching outcomes, (with an average success rate exceeding 60% and a maximum recorded value of 88.7%);
• Communication and education activities: public events (educational workshops and CRTM Open Days) were organised, directly reaching over 500 participants. Additionally, awareness panels were designed and installed in selected locations to inform and raise awareness amongst residents and turists;
• Collaboration with universities: TartAmare hosted internships and expanded the training programme provided, including also scientific seminars covering topics such as sea turtle embryology, ecotoxicology, hematology, GIS applications, biospeleology, and marine invertebrate biology;
• Involvement of local volunteers: also in response to the high number of nesting emergences, and the subsequent need for supplementary beach patrols, TartAmare involved also more local volunteers in July and August 2024.

Main results achieved:

• 5 nests monitored, totaling 639 eggs, with at least 420 hatchlings successfully reaching the sea;

• 2 young loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) rescued and rehabilitated, named Sole and Totta, which were later released back into the sea;

• Strong local partnerships established to reduce human-wildlife conflict, in particular leading to the collaboration with 1 fishery in Castiglione della Pescaia (23 fishing vessels), 3 associations of beach resort operators (Marina di Grosseto, Castiglione della Pescaia, and San Vincenzo), and 14 Harbour Master’s Offices actively engaged in the reporting and monitoring of sea turtle nests (Marina di Pisa, Livorno, Porto Vada, Castiglioncello, Porto Cecina, San Vincenzo, Piombino, Follonica, Castiglione della Pescaia, Marina di Grosseto, Talamone, Orbetello, Porto Santo Stefano, and Porto Ercole);

• Over 500 people engaged in awareness-raising events, including tourists, residents, and volunteers, through 34 events along the Tuscan coast, from Marina di Pisa (PI) to Fosso Chiarone (GR);

• Scientific research and training opportunities: including 4 conferences, 5 scientific seminars, 5 thesis projects, and 15 internships from  Università di Firenze, Università Milano Bicocca, Università di Parma, Università di Pavia, Università Politecnica delle Marche, University of Potsdam;

• Policy dialogue: TartAmare was able to contribute to conservation policy-making, sharing data with local authorities, to support evidence-based decision-making on coastal lighting and conservation measures. Results were also disseminated to the Regional Observatory for Biodiversity (OTB) in Tuscany, ARPAT, and other OTB-affiliated institutions to strengthen coordinated conservation efforts.

 

We’re proud of what we’ve achieved together and can’t wait to work with TartAmare again to protect sea turtles along the Tuscan coast!