Goletta Verde in Tuscany from 1st to 2nd July in Livorno. Today in action on the beach of Calambrone (PI) the Tartadogs, canine units – the first created in Italy and Europe in a structured way – specialized in searching turtle nests and make them safe for their debut this summer season.
Tuscany is an important nesting area, with 24 nests monitored in 2023 alone of which 8 on the coastal coast between Pisa, Livorno, Piombino and Grosseto.
But the commitment to biodiversity will also continue on the island of Elba where the Tarta Beach Tour will start on July 3rd.
With Legambiente’s Goletta Verde, Tartadogs arrive in Tuscany, precious allies in the activity of safeguarding sea turtles Caretta caretta. These are unique dog units of their kind, the first created in Italy and Europe at a structured level, which sniff out and search for nests. not visible of the turtles by making them safe. In action today for the first time on the beach of Calambrone (PI), on the first day of the Tuscan stageof the historic Legambiente campaign dedicated to the protection of the sea and its coasts, Gas, a three-year-old English Springer Spaniel, led by his presenter Claudia Colledani and Ira, a six-year-old Dutch Shepherd female accompanied by her handler Alberto Zancanaro. With a morning exercise, carried out in‘within the framework of the European project Life Turtlenest, co-financed by the LIFE programme of the European Union, the search for a sea turtle incubation chamber was simulated with the Tartadogs. The day was summarized in the video made by the environmentalist association and also visible on the social channels of Goletta Verde. The activities in defense of biodiversity will then continue on Wednesday 3 July with the first edition of the Tarta Beach Tour on the Island of Elba, also organized as part of the international Life Turtlenest project, co-financed by the LIFE program of the European Union. The Tour to the Island of Elba includes a series of events aimed at tourists and sea lovers on the protection of the species in collaboration with Acqua dell’Elba.
Returning to the Tartadogs, the choice of the Calambrone beach is not a random choice. The Tuscan coast has become an important nesting area from the Caretta caretta and here in 2017 the volunteers of the Pisa club found the first nest. Since then, monitoring activities have been underway. Only in 2023 did Tuscany host well 24 sea turtle nests (9 on the islands of the Archipelago – Elba and Giglio -, 8 on the coastal coast between Pisa, Livorno, Piombino and Grosseto and 7 on the Apuan-Versilian coast) and at the beginning of this season 3 nests have already been identified (2 in Pianosa and 1 in the province of Grosseto).
“The activity of the Tartadogs – he explains Antonino Morabito, project manager – it is that of speed up and optimize the identification of nests, where there are no longer external elements that allow visual recognitionso as to locate eggs that need protection or relocation. The activity of Tartadogs it will also be carried out throughout the summer in other Italian regions: Lazio, Campania, Puglia and Calabria, based on guidelines created by Legambiente and Enci – the national Italian dog breeding body and with the contribution of the LIFE project partners. Naturally, the monitoring work requires that animal welfare is always guaranteed. For this reason, the dog units work only in the very first hours of the day, when the temperatures are cooler and more suitable for research and with methods entirely based on the game between handler and dog”.
From this first experiment, it will be produced a publication dedicated to the training of canine units in detection of sea turtle nests. Furthermore, in the wake of this path, Enci and Legambiente, together with ISPRA and other research bodies, will give life to the first European school for nature conservation dog units, whose courses will start next autumn.
“The Mediterranean Sea – comments Stefano Raimondi, spokesperson for Goletta Verde and national biodiversity manager of Legambiente – is one of the world’s biodiversity hot-spots where approximately 18% of the world’s marine biological diversity is concentrated. Tuscany represents this variety well thanks to the highly diversified ecosystems it hosts. Nonetheless, the Mediterranean is a reality subjected to strong pressures linked to pollution, with particular attention to waste and ghost nets, the degradation of habitats, the overexploitation of fish stocks, the presence of invasive alien species . In a context made more worrying by ongoing climate change.”
Goletta Verde’s next flagship events in Tuscany: Marine biodiversity will also be discussed this afternoon 1st July at 6pm on board Goletta Verde (moored at Andana degli Anelli in the port of Livorno) during the initiative entitled “Marine biodiversity in Tuscany: critical issues and protection actions”. Tuesday 2 July, 10.00 am, at Sala Ferretti (Old Fortress) after the greetings of the mayor of Livorno, the conference “Blue eyes on Darsena Europa: ports, logistics, ecological conversion of maritime transport” will begin. The Goletta Verde crew will then move to Florence on Wednesday 3 July for the final press conference to present the data on the quality of Tuscan waters which will be held at 11.00 am at the “Libri Liberi” bookshop (via San Gallo 25/R).
Now in its 38th edition, Goletta Verde has as its main campaign partners: ANEV, CONOU, Novamont and Renexia, and the media partnership of La Nuova Ecologia.
Life Turtlenest, a project co-financed by the European Union through the LIFE program and coordinated by Legambiente, aimed at improving the conservation of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) in Italy, Spain and France, through monitoring activities, securing the nests, scientific research and information and awareness campaigns. In addition to the Legambiente coordinator, the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station participates in the European project; Ispra; La Sapienza University of Rome; University of Barcelona; BETA Technological Center (UVic-UCC); ENCI; Cest Med; Basilicata Region, Campania Region, Puglia Region, Lazio Region, Tuscany environmental protection agencies. In addition to the Italian regions (Basilicata, Puglia, Campania, Sicily, Lazio, Sardinia and Tuscany) Life Turtlenest will intervene in the French Camargue region, the French Riviera and Corsica and in the Spanish regions of Catalonia, Murcia, Andalusia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia.
