Sea turtles are not being protected at Parasolia beach this year

Hi!
Breeding season has started for the sea turtles. I am a nature lover and regular visitor and swimmer at Parasolia beach in Kiti. Last year was a great one at the beach with 60 nests recorded!!!

This year the female turtles are in trouble because more than half of their favourite nesting area is covered by a thick layer of stones from the winter storms, while the rest is for the FIRST time occupied by umbrellas and sunbeds, though they could be in the usual place on the other side. We never had issues with the previous person renting out sunbeds but there is a new person in charge, who is covering the tracks between the beds, so nobody can identify and find the nests.

I informed the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR) and experts last Monday… no news yet.

For the last two years I would mark the nests with sticks and my own signs, then officers from the DFMR or the experts of MedTRACS come ones a week and protect the nests with special cages.

I volunteered last year on Karpasia Peninsula in the north, visited turtle beaches and educated myself as much as I could. I see a difference between the south and north, where more work and projects are carried out, but also compared to the great efforts of the SBA (both in Akrotiri and Dhekelia) to protect the nests of turtles.

Our local councils and sunbed renters have a very negative attitude and believe that turtles should go and nest somewhere else. It is time to remind these people that the sea turtles, their eggs and hatchlings have been protected by law since 1971 ON EVERY SINGLE BEACH in Cyprus!!!
I am running out of ideas and it looks like I am on my own in this fight.

Best regards,
Ildiko from Kiti