CASE NUMBER: 158
CASE MNEMONIC: GREEKTUR
CASE NAME: Greek Turtle Loss
A. IDENTIFICATION
1. The Issue
The magical Greek islands have been attracting tourist for centuries. Tourists in the past like Lord Byron and D.H. Lawrence were drawn and inspired by the white washed villages and clear blue waters. Today, those idyllic attractions may still to some extent remain, yet the actual numbers of tourists has become overwhelming for the fragile Greek coastal environment. Millions of tourists, mostly from Western Europe, descend upon Greece each year and head for the islands. In season, package tours with thousands of visitors arrive daily by the plane, bus and boat load. On almost every Greek island tourism is the largest industry; in season tourists far outnumber the local inhabitants. For the many Greeks, tourism is a primary source of income and to limit tourist development for environmental reasons seems absurd. With economic development, however, there is always sacrifice, be it ecological, cultural, or political. In Greece, on the island of Zakynthos, this issue is dramaticized by the plight of the caretta-caretta, or loggerhead turtle. It is here that the turtles and environmental groups fighting for their survival, and local landowners, developers, and tourists are locked in head to head confrontations.
2. Description
In the Mediterranean, the loggerhead turtle is a dying breed. This 200 million year old (est.) species is also found off the coast of Florida and Australia, yet before tourism developed in Southern Europe it once was a common sight (especially in Sicily and Corsica). Tourism drove the remaining turtles to a few secluded Greek beaches, and today tourism seems to be the most detrimental threat to the Mediterranean loggerhead. Unlike the green turtle, which is commonly sought for soup meat, the loggerhead is rarely hunted by fishermen. There are, however, cases cited by Greenpeace of driftnet fishing in which turtles are needlessly killed and discarded in the search for swordfish.
The Ionian island of Zakynoths, specifically the beaches along Laganas Bay, now is the most important nesting area for the turtles. Laganas beaches remained relatively tranquil and undeveloped until the mid-1980s. In 1984, an international airport was built on the island, bringing direct flights of tourists from abroad. As the tourist industry boomed, the fragile nesting area was encroached on and the numbers of turtles returning to nest declined. "Each year, said the president of the Society for the Protection of the Sea Turtle, Tomas Arapis, the number of loggerheads making it back to Zakinthos - drawn like spawning salmon by urges not fully understood - is reduced by about a fifth." Rough estimates place the numbers of returning turtles somewhere between 700-1000. "There must be a critical point when the overall number of loggerhead turtles becomes too small to sustain the species," Mr. Arapis said. "We don't know if we have already got to that point."
The ramifications of tourism and beach development on the nesting areas are numerous and complex. The turtles nest on the beaches at night and the nesting season lasts through July and August - the most popular tourist months. Under normal conditions the eggs hatch after about 55 days in the sand. The following is a list of modes tourist interference with loggerhead behavior:
- The disco effect... the music, lights, and general noise of taverns, hotels, and a newly built disco on Laganas Bay distract the nesting mothers and prevent them from coming to beach. In some cases eggs are simply dropped in the ocean, in other cases hatchlings mistake the artificial lights for the horizon line of the sea and become disoriented and die in the plight to find the water.
- Litter... the loggerhead chokes and dies on plastic bags floating in the water which are mistaken for their favorite food, the jellyfish.
- Motorboats... besides distracting nesting mothers, the propellers of recreational and fishing boats slice, maim, and kill the turtles.
- Umbrellas... the rental umbrellas of sunbathers pierce the eggs in their nests and lower the sand temperature, disrupting incubation. As one report states, "this produced sex changes in the hatchlings, creating an unhealthy preponderance of males."
- Cars... Cars and motorbikes are allowed on the beach itself, packing down the sand and making it impossible for the hatchling turtles to emerge.
There are various NGOs and environmental groups taking measures to study and protect the turtles of Zakynthos. These include the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, which has over 200 members, including many foreign scientists. The World Wildlife Fund made an $18,000 grant for a tagging program and other research in Zakynthos. Furthermore, there have been public awareness campaigns, including an informational kiosk set up on the beach in Laganas. Environmentalists have succeeded in pressuring the Greek government to pass zoning laws limiting further construction and to keep people off the beaches at night.
These laws, however, are difficult to enforce, and many cases of infringement are cited. More recently, chartered tourists flights from Briton have been delayed for a day as to not disrupt the nesting. The airport now closes from 7 in the evening until the early morning during the nesting season. Other proposals suggest creating a national park in Zakynthos, to control tourism and to employ locals in the park service.
The other side of this debate is articulated by local business persons and landowners. They resent the turtles due to the zoning laws and public awareness campaigns passed in the turtles favor. The locals see environmentalists as their sworn enemies. One shouting match over an abandoned nest between a landowner and biologists went as follows, "Do you know this turtle belongs to me? I own this land, and the turtle does me harm. It harms my interests. I don't care that you are crazy about turtles; I don't like them." The Mayor of a Laganas village called the environmentalists "anarchists" and stated, "what do they want to make of our island, a museum? They want to punish us because of the turtles, but here we don't care about turtles. Since man appeared on the earth he has destroyed whatever got in his way." A British newspaper reported that volunteers sent to help protect the turtles faced abuse, assault and threats of rape. It stated "A biologist ended up in the hospital last month after being attacked by angry local businessmen."
The issue comes down to the fact that tourism is the largest industry on the island, where in season tourist can outnumber the local voting population of 29,000 by 2 to 1. Tourist dollars sustain the island's economy year round, and the summer season is when the dollars flood the economy. Unfortunately this corresponds to the nesting season of the Mediterranean's last loggerheads. Locals believe they have the right to develop their land and beaches; others believe the turtles have a right to breed.
3. Related Cases
Keyword Clusters
(1): Trade Product = TOURism
(2): Bio-geography = OCEAN
(3): Environmental Problem = SLLS/L (sea and beach)
4. Draft Author: James Lang
B. LEGAL Clusters
5. Discourse and Status: DISagreement and INPROG
Although anti-development laws have been passed in the 1980's the specific beaches around Laganas Bay, these laws have not been enforced. Development, including the building of taverns and a disco, is still disputed between locals and environmentalists. There have been threatened and implemented travel agent boycott of Zakynthos initiated by the British and Germans. Greece has outlawed dragnet fishing in its waters and the European Community has set standards limiting the size of driftnets to 2.5 km. The Italians have been known to fish just outside of Greek waters and to use nets from 15-40 km long "creating a wall that no species - dolphin, turtle, or whale - can go through." Dead species are routinely tossed overboard.
6. Forum and Scope: GREECE and UNILATeral
7. Decision Breadth: Many (GREECE and tourist country of origin)
8. Legal Standing: LAW/NGO
C. GEOGRAPHIC Clusters
9. Geographic Locations
a. Geographic Domain : EUROPE
b. Geographic Site : Southern Europe [SEUR], MEDIT
c. Geographic Impact : GREECE
10. Sub-National Factors: NO
11. Type of Habitat: OCEAN, TEMP
D. TRADE Clusters
12. Type of Measure: Export Ban [EXBAN]
The British and German travel agents had banned the island in the early 1990s "until serious measures are taken to safeguard nesting beaches." The Greek zoning and protection laws have not been strictly enforced.
13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: DIRect
14. Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact
a. Directly Related : YES TURTLE
b. Indirectly Related : NO
c. Not Related : NO
d. Process Related : YES Species Loss Land/Sea[SPLL/S]
15. Trade Product Identification: TOURism
16. Economic Data
Greek Tourism
Year # of Tourists Receipts $US '000 1991 8,271,258 2,566,100 1993 9,913,267 3,335,200 Tourism by Country of Origin - 1993 United Kingdom 2,191,347 Germany 2,069,379 Italy 625,509 France 554,644
17. Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness: HIGH
18. Industry Sector: TOURism
19. Exporter and Importer: MANY and GREECE
E. ENVIRONMENT Clusters
20. Environmental Problem Type: Species Loss Land/Sea [SPLL/S]
21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species
Name: TURTLE - Caretta-Caretta, "Loggerhead"
Type: Animal/Deutero/Turtle
22. Impact and Effect: HIGH and PRODuct
23. Urgency and Lifetime: MEDIUM and ? years.
Although research is being done, little is known concretely about the turtles life span and breeding capacity. Studies do estimate, however, that female turtles can reproduce from 30 to 100 years in age. Furthermore estimates vary concerning the remaining Mediterranean population of loggerheads. As stated above, this species is also found off the coasts of Florida and Australia.
24. Substitutes: LIKE products
Traditional tourists can simply choose to go to other Greek beaches, and Laganas Bay can be transformed into a national park or eco-tourism site where disruptive human activity can be controlled.
VI. OTHER Factors
25. Culture: YES
Environmentalists and turtle advocates claim the turtles are a part of Greek national heritage. In classical times, the turtle was considered a symbol of power and some argue it should be preserved like other ancient monuments.
26. Trans-Border: YES
27. Rights: NO
28. Relevant Literature
References
Anast, Paul. "Turtles Threatened by Greek Tourism." The Daily
Telegraph. August 16, 1990, p 11.
Brabant, Malcolm. "Airport Delays Tourists to Save Nesting."
The Times. (London) June 20, 1995.
Cowell, Alan. "A Greek Drama: Tourists v.s. Turtles." The New
York Times. June 27, 1987, sec 1, p 4.
The Europa World Yearbook 1995. London: Europa Publications
Limited, vol 1, p 1352.
Hope, Karin. "Beaches Where Tourists Compete with Turtles."
United Press International. October 14, 1981.
Kamm, Henry. "Sea Turtle's Breeding Ground Is Overwhelmed by
Tourism." The New York Times. September 2, 1986, sec C, p 3.
Kyiakidou, Dina. "Greenpeace Urges Ban on Driftnet Fishing in
Mediterranean." The Reuter Library Report. July 8, 1993.
Kyriakidou, Dina. "Endangered Turtles Come Home to Aid survival
of Species." The Reuter Library Report. June 7, 1992.
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