The Earth Sea and Sky centre at Gerakas and the Carretta Carretta turtles

When I was at Gerakas beach recently I visited the Earth Sea and Sky centre dedicated to preserving the wildlife and the turtles on Zakynthos. I met the founder Yannis Vardakastanis who has won conservation awards for his work there to preserve the turtles.

He grew up in the area and his family owned land around the beach. As a child he remembers in July and August having the beach to himself with just the turtles. In the early 1980s when tourists came in greater numbers to the island he realised there would be a problem in the future and he made a decision to move away from running a beach bar and sunbeds to move into conservation.

Yannis founded the Earth Sea and Sky Centre ten years ago to inform visitors how to protect the wildlife in this area, especially the turtles. He also tackles issues such as climate change, the local resorts, the bush fires to educate visitors how to spend their holidays in harmony with nature and develop sustainable tourism.

The loggerhead sea turtles live in the Meditterranean and their greatest threat is from human activities such as fishing and speed boats. Yannis advised that if you go on a boat trip to see the turtles, you should make sure it doesn’t pollute the water by throwing sewage or litter into the water. They must respect the laws of the marine park; not be closer than 10m to the turtle, to slow down and not drive fast around them, and not chase them.

Yannis also runs a volunteer programme for thos who want to get more involved with his conservation work on Zakynthos