Monitoring Nesting Attempts of Loggerhead Turtles

About the Project

The project “Monitoring Nesting Attempts of Loggerhead Turtles” aims to survey and preserve identified nesting sites of the species Caretta caretta on Albanian shores. It is supported by the UNDP’s Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) Small Grants Programme, and is being implemented by REC Albania. Since the spring of 2024, the initiative has expanded and is monitoring sea turtle nesting and egg hatching at several sites of interest, such as Divjakë, near the mouth of the Seman River, and Pishë-Poro, near the delta of the Vjosa River.

First Hatchlings

From the early stages of monitoring, we were met with the positive news that more sea turtle nesting sites had been identified than expected. The project discovered that there had been 6 nesting attempts by sea turtles on Albanian shores. Of these, 3 nests showed successful results with high egg hatching rates, ranging between 70.8%, 97.2%, and 86.1%. In nominal terms, these high hatching rates have contributed to increasing the species population by a total of 218 individuals.