ARCHELON
The Sea Turtle Directory
Country: Greece
Organization / Project Name: ARCHELON/ Chania
Website: https://archelon.gr/en
Email: info@archelon.gr
Description: The nesting beach of Chania is located in Northern Crete, west of the city of Chania. It has a total length of approximately 13 km and is particularly popular during the summer months. The beach hosts an average of about 100 loggerhead nests each year. You can meet the ARCHELON volunteers and find out more about sea turtles at the Information Station at the old port. More than 500 volunteers from all over the world help us protect the sea turtles in Greece every year. In 2022 about 85 Loggerhead sea turtle nests were recorded and protected by ARCHELON' volunteers/researchers on 14 km of nesting beach in 2022, despite the intense tourist activity in Chania. The nesting beaches of Chania bay, along with other neighboring areas of high natural value, have been included in the European Union Natura 2000 network under the code GR4340003 "CHERSONISOS RODOPOU – PARALIA MALEME -KOLPOS CHANION". ARCHELON- the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece was founded in 1983 and is a non-profit Association active all over Greece. All of ARCHELON activities in the Peloponnese, which include monitoring and protecting the reproduction of sea turtles, and raising public awareness, are performed in close collaboration with the local authorities.
Species of focus: Loggerheads (Caretta caretta)
Volunteer program: Yes
Tourist activities (Y/N): Yes
Primary Areas of Work: Environmental education/community outreach, Stranding response, Beach protection, Community development, Satellite telemetry, Policy, Nesting beach monitoring
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/archelon.gr
Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/archelon_greece/