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Giuseppe Maraventano

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (3): 659-664

    Elena Prazzi, Vincenzo Billeci, Giuseppe Maraventano, Gerry Sorrentino, Angelo Dimarca & Giulia Casamento
    Presence of Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia Cheloniidae) on Lampedusa island (Pelagie Islands, Sicily Channel): update on the 2022 and 2023 nesting seasons and on conservation measures
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.3.659.664

    ABSTRACT
    During 2022 and 2023 a total of 22 nests of Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia Cheloniidae) were laid on Lampedusa island. Ovipositions interested 5 different beaches of the island, with the discovery of two new oviposition sites (Cala Spugne and Portu Ntoni). The 16 nests monitored in 2023 represent the highest number of oviposition ever recorded in Lampedusa. For the first time on Lampedusa, nests laid in Cala Spugne and at high risk of inundation have been relocated to Conigli beach, within the Nature Reserve “Isola di Lampedusa”. This practice, together with other conservation measures implemented on the beaches outside the protected area, permitted to protect nests and newborns in sites also affected by pressures connected with mass tourism. Otherwise, the strengthening of the use regulation on Conigli beach, with the introduction of a limit on number of visitors, has further increased the level of environmental protection, thus representing a model to be proposed on the other beaches of Lampedusa outside the Nature Reserve.