Giving LIFE to turtles by protecting new nesting sites

At first glance, it may seem like good news: rising sea temperatures in the Mediterranean are enabling loggerhead turtles to find new nesting sites. However, as these marine reptiles move north to lay their eggs on new beaches, they are facing increased threats from human activity. One LIFE project is helping to protect these new nesting sites to increase the number of hatchlings that survive.  

The LIFE TURTLENEST project is identifying and monitoring loggerhead turtle nests in Italy, France and Spain with the aim of locating and protecting new nesting sites. It is also building a network of local authorities and beach resorts to support turtle conservation efforts. 

In 2025, the project recorded more than 700 nests in Italy, up from 443 in 2023 and 601 in 2024. Much of this growth occurred in Sicily, Calabria, Campania and Puglia, but there is also a growing presence along the coast of Liguria in northern Italy. These new sites, however, are often located where there is already intense pressure from tourism and coastal development.  

‘The numbers from recent years tell a two-sided story,’ says Stefano Di Marco, LIFE TURTLENEST project manager and project office coordinator at the Italian environmental organisation Legambiente. One of the main threats to sea turtles is the use of bulldozers to clean and level beaches, says Di Marco. Loggerhead turtles lay their eggs just a few tens of centimetres below the surface of the sand, so bulldozers can easily crush them. 

Light pollution is another major threat as loggerhead turtles use moonlight to orientate themselves. Artificial lighting can disorient female turtles, causing them to abandon their nesting attempts, while hatchlings may follow lights inland instead of heading out to sea, leaving them at risk of dehydration or predators.  

‘With LIFE TURTLENEST, we are building a system of surveillance, institutional engagement and widespread culture that makes these practices socially unacceptable as well as illegal,’ says Di Marco.  To support beach resorts and local authorities that discover turtle nests on their shores, the LIFE TURTLENEST team have produced guidelines to help reduce light pollution. 

Alongside this, the project team is conducting scientific work, monitoring nests and tracking hatchlings with satellite transmitters to better understand their movements in the early years of life. The team is also working to raise public awareness of the loggerhead turtles. 

The project is one of 35 LIFE projects focused on conserving loggerhead turtles, which together have received €135 million.  

The hope is to ensure that these turtles ­– a priority species under the EU Habitats Directive – are protected even as they spread to new areas in response to climate change.‘Every nest counts,’ says Di Marco. ‘Every hatching is a collective victory.’ 

The LIFE TURTLENEST project contributes to the EU Habitats Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.