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Earth Sea & Sky
Volunteer activities

 

ESS Volunteers on coastal cleanup   Earth Sea & Sky Volunteers Bewtween 15th May and 10th September Earth Sea & Sky team carried out a variety of concrete conservation measures aimed at reversing the deterioration of wildlife habitat within the area of Zakynthos designated as a National Marine Park.  Threats to natural habitats:-  Forests :- Fires , land development, littering, agricultural land clearing, and grazing, illegal dumping Coastal:- Pollution, erosion of coast, tourist development, human impact, illegal dumping. Illegal dumping and littering of the beaches is one of the greatest threats to many species and habitats. A prime example of how littering and pollution effect and endanger species is the effect on sea turtles. The main dangers from litter are:-  1/ Ingestion of plastics, leading to scarring,blockage of digestive tracts, causing starvation leading to death 2/ Entanglement in discarded fishing lines, leading to death by drowning or injury 3/ Damage to nesting sites, through obstruction, contamination or compaction caused by use of large mechanical cleaning devises.  Coastal clean up Campaign   Earth Sea & Sky teamed up with the STPS and Daniel Caute a British conservationist for Summer 2000 to create a project called Coastal Clean Up. The project was launched in support of the newly designated National Marine Park of Zakynthos, and aimed to get visitors to the island directly involved in the protection of prime natural habitat and nesting sites. The Project was a great success and with the help of our volunteers around 11 tonnes of waste, mainly plastics were collected from the coastline and forests within some of the most important areas of the Park. Daniel Caute presented slide shows on the impact of discarded waste on natural habitats at Gerakas Information centre. Whilst STPS Volunteers also encouraged volunteer support through their talks at hotels and holiday apartments. The project proved that with the right guidance tourists can reduce the impact of their stay to a minimum, and helped to promote the need for sustainable tourism Projects. Earth Sea & Sky will be running similar volunteer projects and green activities throughout the Season for more information please contact yannis@earthseasky.org or visit the information centre in Gerakas, Zakynthos.   STPS Volunteers Over 300 students and young scientists from Greece and other countries participate yearly as volunteers in projects run by the STPS.  The Sea Turtle Protection Society helps to: Monitor 2,500 nests along 75km of coastline on Zakynthos, Peloponnesus and Crete. Study the factors affecting nests and incubation. Tag turtles to determine migratory and reproductive patterns  Protect 1,500 nests against human interference, predation and sea inundation by means of screens and cages or translocation to natural beach hatcheries. Raise public awareness through information stations, slide shows at hotels and beach patrols at the nesting areas. Treat injured turtles that are brought through a national network, to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Glyfada(Athens). If you would like more information on becoming a STPS volunteer, please contact yannis@earthseasky.org for an application form.  Help us to organise and fund volunteer programmes, important research and to assist with natural habitat and environmental management projects