Join Pod Volunteer to help sea turtle conservation on the beautiful Greek island of Kefalonia, by monitoring and protecting the island’s endangered loggerhead sea turtles. Every year loggerhead sea turtles migrate to Kefalonia to feed and reproduce, with female turtles laying their eggs on the sandy beaches of the island. Unfortunately, the turtle population is now under great pressure from both human and natural threats and has become endangered
You’ll be living on the friendly island of Kefalonia, with its sandy beaches, rugged scenery and surrounded by the warm crystal blue waters of the Ionian Sea.
Join the team and help save the sea turtles of Greece from extinction!
How can I help?
Volunteers support the work of the local conservation team and tasks may include:
Surveying beaches to find, record and protect turtle nests (in nesting season)
When turtles hatch, protecting the tiny hatchlings from light pollution and ensuring they can crawl safely to the sea (in hatching season)
Making nest inventories to assess the hatching success of each nest (in hatching season)
Observing and recording turtle behaviour
Measuring the level and source of light pollution, a key threat to turtles
Measuring changes to the beach profile
Beach clean ups – collecting plastic
Helping educate locals and visitors about the threats to turtles
When can I join?
Sunday or Tuesdays from April to October for 2-6 weeks.
Where will I be living?
The houses have simple furnishings and several communal cooking areas. Volunteers share bedrooms which mostly have bunk beds and there are shared bathrooms.
You will live on Kefalonia, which is an island in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. The field stations are in beautiful locations near the nesting areas being monitored and near to the beach which you can visit to swim, sunbathe, and relax during your free time.
Placement fee
Volunteer placements start from £790 for 2 weeks. This includes accommodation, airport pick up and transfer to the project + planning your trip support from the Pod team.
To learn more about the Turtle Conservation project and the next steps on how to apply you can visit our website: https://www.podvolunteer.org/projects/turtle-conservation-greece
Pod Volunteer is an award-winning non-profit organisation arranging ethical, inspiring and supported volunteering opportunities around the world since 2001. Pod Volunteer has a range of trips from 1 week at animal, conservation and community volunteering projects around the world. You can see all approved Gold DofE Residential projects here: https://www.podvolunteer.org/projects#comboFilters%5Bwho%5D=.who-dofe
You can get in touch with the Pod Volunteer team by email [email protected]
