2:06pm UK, Wednesday June 30, 2004

Tourism is threatening to destroy the largest population of loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean unless action is taken now, the World Wildlife Fund has warned.  

The Greek government is under growing pressure to save the rapidly degrading nesting beaches, according to WWF.

A loggerhead turtle

The global conservation organisation criticises Greece for not enforcing the European Union's Habitat Directive, which requires it to implement effective measures to protect the loggerheads.

The animals build between 800 and 1,100 nests in the National Marine Park on the island of Zakynthos.

WWF said the park's management authority had now ceased all protective operations due to lack of cash and government support.

As a result, the beaches set aside for turtles have turned into a sprawling tourist free for all.

Loggerhead females start coming ashore to nest by the end of May, and finish nesting by the end of July.

WWF stressed that the peak of the tourist season coincides with the start of the hatching of the turtle eggs in August.

It said that there are no measures in place either to stop illegal development or to keep thousands of sun-seekers off the nesting beaches.

Susan Lieberman, director of WWF's global species programme, said: "It is not acceptable that beaches once protected for turtles are now the domain of sunbathers, swimmers and ice cream vendors."