PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Recognizing that climate change is inevitable and that current conservation priorities based on current or past contexts might not be efficient under future climate change scenarios, the project aims to identify the most likely future priorities for the EU populations of three priority species (the sea turtles Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas and the monk seal Monachus monachus) and to promote such an approach in conservation practices. The project aims to identify - in the three EU countries most important for these species (Italy, Greece and Cyprus) - those coastal and marine areas that are likely to be more resistant to the impacts caused by climate change and that therefore will represent very important areas for the future populations, even if they are not considered as such at present time. To this aim, the project will: (i) map and analyze existing and potential sea turtle nesting sites and monk seal pupping/resting sites, (ii) assess the risks posed to these sites by sea-level rise, (iii) assess the risk posed by global warming to sea turtle nesting sites, in terms of feminization (sea turtles have temperarutr-dependent sex determination and high temperature produce females), (iv) identify key marine areas likely to have an important role for the species even in a future context of climate change, (v) develop a comprehensive conservation strategy based on these findings and on climate change aadaptation approaches, and (vi) secure their implementation by competent authorities. The project will also implement urgent conservation measures such as the protection of sea turtle clutches, improvement of the monk seal rescuing capacity, and restoration of monk seal resting and pupping caves. The project will also promote the implementation of its approaches in other Mediterranean countries important for these species and will promote increased awareness on climate change topics among EU citizens through the example of this project on the three flagship species.