ABSTRACT The establishment of the National Ma- rine Park of Zakynthos in 1999 proved pivotal in changing the role of NGOs in- volved in the protection of loggerhead sea turtles and their nesting habitats at the local level. Prior to the NMPZ, the activity of NGOs was viewed neg- atively by the local society because (i) NGOs were obliged to attempt to enforce governmental legislation es- tablished to protect sea turtle nesting habitats, (ii) national and internatio- nal NGOs lobbied Greek governmen- tal bodies and the European Union to- wards establishing the NMPZ, and (iii) the financial investment by locals in the booming tourism industry appeared to clash with NGO efforts to protect the sea turtles. The NGOs soon recognized and be- gan to rectify these problems by es- tablishing links with local governmen- tal authorities, affected stakeholders and businesses, in parallel with their field monitoring and public awareness schemes. Furthermore, WWF Greece undertook the pioneering initiative to purchase the land surrounding the most significant nesting beach on Zakynthos, thus securing its long-term protection against illegal development. The long conservation and lobbying presence of NGOs on the island facilitated a series of coalitions with local stakeholders. The establishment of the NMPZ diversi- fied the roles of locally active NGOs and strengthened links with the local com- munity by giving them an official voice on the NMPZ Management Body. This improved the level of acceptance of NGOs by local society, although a general feeling of mistrust remains. This presentation discusses the chan- ging eco-political roles of NGOs on Za- kynthos over the last 20 years. THE EVOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL NGOs’ ECO-POLITICAL ROLE IN SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION EFFORTS ON ZAKYNTHOS Demetres Karavellas, Gail Schoffield, Giorgos Catsadorakis, Theodota Nantsou, Charicleia Minotou THE ROLE OF NGOs AND THEIR LOCAL IMAGE Dimopoulos, D., N. Charalambides, D. Karavellas, N. Lalotis & L.Venizelos. 2001. The role of NGOs in promoting the es- tablishment of the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, Greece, pages 120-125 in D.Margaritoulis & A. Demetropoulos (eds) Proceedings of the First Mediterra- nean Conference on marine turtles, Rome 24-28 October 2001. ICRAM, IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Margaritoulis, D. 1982. Observations on loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caret- ta activity during three nesting seasons (1977-79) in Zakynthos, Greece. Biologi- cal Conservation 24 : 193-204 Margaritoulis, D. 2005. Nesting activity and reproductive output of loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta, over 19 sea- sons (1984-2002) at Laganas Bay, Zaky- nthos, Greece: the largest rookery in the Mediterranean. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 4 : 916-929. LITERATURE CITED WWF-Greece 26 Filellinon st. 105 58 Athens Tel.: +30 210 3314893 Fax: +30 210 3247578 support@wwf.gr I. Institutional role of NGOs Before the NMPZ NGOs had no official or institutional role. However, they were important to- wards pushing for the conservation of the sea turtle rookery. Activities in- cluded: research and monitoring, lobbying and pressure on the state, con- tribution to local law enforcement, management and conservation measures (land purchase, wardening, etc) in the absence of the state action, general and local public awareness. After the NMPZ NGO’s received representation on the NMPZ Management Body. NGOs con- tinue to perform research and monitoring since the NMPZ is not yet in the position to take control. Management and conservation measures are under the responsibility of the NMPZ Management Body, as are general and local public awareness and local law enforcement. NGOs also continue to assist in public awareness activities. II. The local image of NGOs Before the NMPZ The majority of local people clearly identified NGOs, who had been advocat- ing sea turtle protection, as adversaries against their own interests. Hence NGOs were seen as the ‘defenders’ of sea-turtles acting as ‘watch-dogs’ for the absent state. The fact that NGOs were in fact pressing the state to en- force its own laws and establish a much needed balance has been rarely ac- knowledged. On the contrary, the NGOs presented an easy target to retaliate against as their members were always locally present while the state was a distant, somewhat abstract, entity. What is more important, in the absence of the responsible national and local authorities, the NGOs were forced to take up a leading role in pushing for the implementation of the law. This role was fulfilled primarily through campaigning and submission of legal complaints to the Greek courts and the European Commission. As a result, in many cases, conservationists were not deemed as potential partners at a local level, but rather as the ‘watch-dog’ of the European Union and its relevant legislation. After the NMPZ As there is now an on-site official body in charge of the NMPZ, local society has found a clear target to express its dislike for the injustices to which they have been subject and to negotiate new terms. For the local society, the NMPZ has to a certain extent, taken on the role of a local representative of the state. At the same time, although NGOs have a seat on the Board of NMPZ, they have managed to develop a satisfactory net- working that has contributed to chang- ing their image to more of a facilitator and collaborator. III. The NGOs role in respect to the state Before the NMPZ This consisted of a double role: 1. Exerting relentless pressure to for- mulate and implement appropriate legislation 2. Advising the state services, provid- ing the results of monitoring data. After the NMPZ As the NMPZ Management Body is completely contingent upon the funds and support provided by the state, a triple role must be served by the NGOs: • Assisting the NMPZ Management Body in fulfilling its challenging role, while at the same time maintaining their independence and right to publicly criticize. • Pressing the state to properly support the NMPZ Management Body • Convincing local society that they are sensitive to their needs and pushing for fair resolution of land disputes, in parallel to the protection of sea-turtles. IV. Management and conservation measures Before the NMPZ: • WWF Greece purchased the land behind Sekania beach. Since then, the land has been managed with the aim of maintaining or even improving beach characteristics and nesting conditions for seaturtles. This effort has been financed by WWF Greece. • “Archelon” has carried out the monitoring of nesting activity while WWF Greece has carried out the monitoring of the Sekania hinterland and beach profile. This work was financed by the NGOs. • Wardening was done by WWF Greece and “Archelon”. Cost was covered by them. After the NMPZ: WWF Greece’s land management must be incorporated into a general ma-nage- ment plan agreed by the NMPZ Manage- ment Body. Wardening must be orga- nized and its cost covered by the NMPZ. NGOs, as members of the NMPZ man- agement body, must assist in organizing the wardening and at the same time criti- cize when wardening is not effective. V. General and local public awareness and local networking Before the NMPZ: NGOs informed the general public about the importance of Laganas Bay for sea turtles, as well as attempting to raise local awareness about the poten- tial benefits of a National Marine Park through forming alliances with local stakeholders to achieve common objectives. After the NMPZ: NGOs must continue to raise the awareness of the local public about the potential benefits of a properly operational and well organized marine park. The NGOs must also form proper alliances with local stakeholders within the NMPZ Board for exerting pressure to the state to resolve the core problems of the NMPZ in a permanent and responsible manner. Zakynthos island, and in particular Lag- anas Βay, is a highly profitable mass tourism destination, that also hosts the most densely nested beaches for the internationally threatened logger- head sea turtle (Caretta caretta) in the Mediterranean (Margaritoulis, 2005). While the Greek government initially en- couraged the growth of mass tourism on the island during the 1970s, on entering the European Union in 1981, Greece un- wittingly consented to securing the future of the country’s threatened habitats and species by giving environmental issues an influential international audience. Greece lacked – and continues to lack - a comprehensive national system for the protection and management of bio- diversity. Given that the loggerhead sea turtle is listed in Annex II of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), and is protected as a priority species, Laganas Bay at Zaky- nthos immediately emerged as a priority area for conservation. In this context, the role of NGOs has been pivotal in securing that the nesting beaches are conserved and that the loggerhead turtles continue to nest at Laganas Bay. To this end, the NGOs have employed a variety of meth- ods, ranging from environmental activism to pure science (Dimopoulos et al. 2001). The National Marine Park of Zakynthos (NMPZ) was officially established in De- cember 1999 and the environmental NGOs participate on its Management Body. This body is not receiving adequate support from the state at present to fulfil its mission, hence the roles of environ- mental NGOs must adapt to new circum- stances. This poster demonstrates the changing roles that conservation NGOs have had to adapt to from the early ‘80s until present, in their pursuit towards ef- fectively conserving Laganas Bay. INTRODUCTION In the ‘70s and ‘80s, tourist infrastructure development around the Laganas Bay had been precipitous and unplanned. In the absence of land-use planning, there was high demand for land close to the beaches causing prices to soar. The more tourist installations that were built, the more landowners around the bay became richer. Restrictions on local building and development were passed in the mid 1980s and were subject to negative reactions by the local community. While one part of the bay had already been exploited, the new regulations put a halt to further development, lead- ing to strong local disparities. Some people had already profited greatly from tourism whereas others could no longer sell or build on land close to the nesting beaches. The state, which had permitted this unplanned and uncontrolled deve-lopment, was not willing to give any form of compensation to affected land-owners. Thus, adversar- ies to sea turtle conservation were borne and a sense of hostility was created by a significant portion of local society. In addition, some locals took advantage of the virtual absence of the state and the tolerance of local authorities, by provoc- atively violating building restrictions and proceeded to build illegally. THE CORE PROBLEM As a result, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece (later “Arche- lon”) was established in 1982, with the original aim of protecting and monitoring the nesting beaches on Zakynthos. Obviously, its mission and mandate now spreads beyond the case of Zakynthos. WWF Greece has been present on the island since the early 1990s, and in 1994 it pur- chased the land behind Sekania, the most important nesting beach of La- ganas Bay in terms of nesting den- sity, in an attempt to safeguard this critical habitat. Medasset was founded in 1988 and has been active for many years in lobbying for the effective conserva- tion of the area. THE AREA AND THE PLAYERS NMPZ Management Body The NMPZ is governed by a board, on which there are representatives of: the local prefec- ture, the local municipalities, environmental NGOs, the Ministry of Environment and local inter- est groups. It is a private legal entity dependant upon state funding and support, which is unfortunately not timely, stable or predict- able. It does not, on its own, have the power to resolve the core problems underlying the continuous turbulence in the NMPZ. Local society While local society may perceive sea turtles as an ‘added value’, it generally seeks to capitalize on land value for building – al- beit with minimal control – to in- tensify tourism activities and to maximize short term profit with little concern for what the future may hold or the environmental impacts of such actions. The Greek State Environmental issues have not featured as a priority for the Greek State over the past thirty years. Resolving the problems of the NMPZ requires a level of political will, fun-ding and orga- nization that the State has sim- ply not shown to date. The government seems content with merely managing the present situation without generating any local political stance. The only serious incentive for change seems to come from the European Union and the threat of the European Court of Justice. The NGOs The presence of the internationally threatened breeding population of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta- caretta) on Zakynthos was first brought to national and international attention in 1977 by Dimitri Mar- garitoulis (Margaritoulis, 1982). All three NGOs have, either separately, or in coalition, invested major effort in campaigning nationally and internationally for the establishment and sound management of a marine park on Zakynthos. The unplanned expansion of tourism installations and the very high land prices secured by many land-owners in the 1970s and 1980s created a difficult problem that still burdens the opera- tion of the NMPZ, since the Greek state has yet to compensate land-owners that consider themselves to have been deprived of serious profits. On the other hand the NMPZ management body is contingent upon the effective operation of the state services as it entirely depends upon them for funding and support. As funding and support remain unpredictable, the NMPZ strives to fulfill its role in a very challenging socio-political setting. It is clear that on Zakynthos the chief obstacles to substantial progress in sea-turtle conservation can only be overcome by the Greek State. It is the only stakeholder in the process which can and indeed should: • Provide some form of compensation to affected land owners (expropriation) • Provide regular and sufficient funding and strong support to the work of the NMPZ management body • Ensure proper implementation of legislation To date, it seems that the political will, to meet the above chal- lenges head-on, is lacking. With the State not looking particularly decisive in resolving the situation, the NGOs involved on the NMPZ management body (as well as those active on the Zakynthos case outside the manage- ment body), find themselves in challenging times. The NGOs must strive to maintain a fine balance between pressing the state and the Management Body to effectively ensure protection of the nest- ing beaches while gaining the trust of the local society, without permitting further deterioration of the sea-turtle nesting habitat. CONCLUSIONS ©Photo Credits: ARCHELON, WWF-Greece / Daphne Mantziou - Marios Vontas, WWF-Canon / Michel Gunther, MEDASSET / R. Poland Georgia Valaora, Jozephine, Farinato. View publication stats View publication stats