SCOPRITARTA: project for environmental education

Reserved for students of Primary and Secondary School

Caretta caretta is one of the species considered as a priority for the policies of biodiversity conservation in Europe and worldwide.

It's been almost 15 years since, back in 2001, the provincial administration of Agrigento, today Free Municipal Consortium of Agrigento, published the first popular handbook on the biology and conservation of sea turtles, in order to increase the knowledge and sensitivity to these beautiful animals. It was the beginning of a long journey - made together with many partners including NGOs, research institutes and other institutions - which led the province to implement, unique among the Sicilian authorities, 4 Life projects for the protection of sea turtles and their habitats.

Only strategies that integrate conservation policies, with research applied to the management of fisheries and coastal management, together with initiatives for communication, information and environmental education, can be effective to remove factors pressure against this species, but also to tackle the problems of lack of knowledge and cultural resistance to the environment and territory.

This manual fits right in line with this strategy: the TARTALIFE project, funded by the European Commission (Life + 12 / NAT / IT / 937) and conducted with the help of ISMAR-CNR, CTS, UNIMAR, Legambiente, AMP Islands Egadi, AMP Pelagie and PN Asinara, target objectives that require the availability and cooperation of the local communities, primarily by fishermen. The Agrigento region, hosting several important nesting sites for sea turtles, deserves that we persevere in the protection of these species and, at the same time, that we contribute to raise awareness and promote the entire wealth of biodiversity of land and sea, which if well managed can ensure for a long time, the base of the economy and employment, in order to truly sustainable development.

Manuale per i Docenti

objective

reduction of sea turtle mortality in the professional fishing

project in brief

The conservation of Caretta caretta, a priority species included in App. II/IV of the Habitat Directive and protected in various international Conventions, has been representing a strategic issue for the whole Mediterranean basin, with professional fishing being the main threat for the survival of marine turtles: every year about 130000 turtles can be accidentally caught accidentally in the Mediterranean.

The project TartaLife, involving all 15 Italian regions overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, aims at reducing:
- bycatches caused by pelagic longline, bottom trawl and fixed nets by disseminating technical innovations of the fishing gears;
- post-capture mortality through trainings for fishermen and strengthening the marine turtles First Aid/Rescue Centres

TartaLife project

Life+ programme

The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental policy and legislation by co-financing pilot or demonstration projects with European added value.

LIFE began in 1992 and to date there have been four complete phases of the programme (LIFE I: 1992-1995, LIFE II: 1996-1999, LIFE III: 2000-2006 and LIFE+: 2007-2013). During this period, LIFE has co-financed some 3954 projects across the EU, contributing approximately €3.1 billion to the protection of the environment.

Life+ programme