"the glorious, wish-you-were-here setting for one of the nastiest ecological battles in Europe"

Zakynthos, southernmost of the Ionian Islands, is the glorious, wish-you-were-here setting for one of the nastiest ecological battles in Europe. A coalition of Greek conservation groups is campaigning to get Laganas Bay declared a national marine park. Should that happen, many get-rich-quick, seafront profiteers will lose their livelihoods. In the face of mounting pressure from the European Union and, belatedly, from the Greek Government, the political tide is turning against the profiteers.

After Libya, Zakynthos plays host to the largest breeding population of loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean. An average of 1,300 turtles nest each year on the 10 kilometres of sand that rings Laganas Bay. They come for the sheltered waters, hot sun, soft sands, and gentle slope – exactly what you and I are looking for when we flick through the brochures in our local travel agent. But turtles like their beaches quiet. The noise and paraphernalia of a contemporary Mediterranean holiday are incompatible with their reproductive needs. Parasol spikes destroy nests, disco lights disorient the hatchlings, and speedboats kill the adults.

Environmentalists took up the sea turtles’ cause in the early 1980s and met with fierce opposition from locals. They lit night-time bonfires on the beaches, took pot shots at those who sought to protect them, and have been threatening, beating, and burning ever since.

In 1986 the case came before the EU, and has been raised at every subsequent conservation committee meeting. The loggerhead is listed as endangered under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Habitats. This puts a duty on EU member states to protect them, yet the Greek authorities have been endlessly reluctant to intervene. A series of protective measures were enacted, but the political will to enforce them was lacking.

"they spend their summers scanning the sands and smoothing out the remains of the previous day’s sandcastles"

"Most Greeks are in favour of conservation," says Lily Venizelos, President of MEDASSET (Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtle), "but the Government can’t afford to upset the Zakynthians. The turtles have become a political football."

Inevitably the task of turtle protection fell to others. Daniel Caute and Caroline Harris are unpaid volunteers for the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece (STPS). They spend their summers scanning the sands for potential turtle hazards, advising unsuspecting tourists on turtle protection, and smoothing out the remains of the previous day’s sandcastles.

Their patch is Gerakas Beach, a middle class holiday destination where the tourists respond positively to their approaches. The toughest part of the job is negotiating with the men who control the illegal beach parasols. Since no one is willing or able to remove them, Daniel and Caroline have to work with the parasol vendors to secure the turtles’ best interests. Some vendors are more accommodating than others, but only so far as it doesn’t harm business.

"a courting couple walked along the beach and the turtle abandoned her mission"

Despite spending so much time on the beaches, Daniel and Caroline rarely see live turtles. All the real action happens at night while the beaches are out-of-bounds. When on land, female turtles are sensitive to the least disturbance. Caroline recalled a clear, moonlit night when she watched an egg-laying turtle from the cliffs above. Then a courting couple walked along the beach and the turtle abandoned her mission.

"She just freaked out," explained Caroline.

But the STPS and other pressure groups have at last begun to halt the decline in turtle numbers. On nearby Daphni Beach where volunteers were stoned the year before, the illegal tavernas have been closed with a consequent doubling in nests. A new six-knot speed restriction on powerboats has effectively stopped water sports in Laganas Bay. And the ban on night flights into Kalamaki Airport is enforced so rigidly that in June a plane-load of Britons was delayed for 24 hours at Manchester. As a result, 1995 has recorded the highest number of turtle nests for many years.

It’s these successes that led to the bomb attack on Nikos Lykourosis. While Daniel Caute hints darkly at the Island’s Mafia connections, Nikos is more relaxed. The increase in violence doesn’t worry him.

"I’m too old for that," he says.

This is a view echoed by Dimitrios Dimopoulos, Field Co-ordinator for the STPS. Dimitrios believes that the forces in favour of the national marine park are now unstoppable. In March of this year, the EU gave Greece an ultimatum: demonstrate some progress on turtle protection before January 22^nd, or the issue will be referred to arbitration. Athens now faces an embarrassing precedent. No conservation case has ever been put to arbitration before.

"democracy may have come late to Zakynthos, but it’s a touch too early for the turtles"

The Greek Minister of the Environment has finally declared that there will be a park, regardless of the political cost. That cost is the opposition of the Zakynthian authorities. This year, for the first time, the Prefecture was elected rather than appointed. Democracy may have come late to Zakynthos, but it’s a touch too early for the turtles.

Elected prefects have proven more reluctant than appointed ones to rock the political boat. The Government proposals for a marine park have been matched by another from the Laganas Bay communities, and by a third from the environmental groups. The result is further delays with the Prefectural Council deciding on October 1^st not to adopt a plan, but to undertake a management study.

European intervention now seems inevitable. The Conservation Standing Committee is becoming increasingly nervous that failure to protect turtles is making a mockery of the Bern Convention. In 1986 the Committee asked for the illegal buildings and tavernas on Daphni Beach to be demolished. They still stand today, nine years after the Committee’s first request and eight months after its final warning.

The conservationists are already gearing up for arbitration. Lily Venizelos has a team of international lawyers on standby to ensure that Greece honours its obligations.