A local volunteer programme sees loggerhead nest numbers more than double in a decade<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A plucky group of volunteers has scored a rare environmental win after their work to protect loggerhead turtles<\/a> was rewarded with a doubling of the number of nests on the Libyan coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a UN-funded programme to increase numbers of the endangered species was interrupted by a conflict that would span 12 years, the creatures were left to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conservationists consider the North African country\u2019s 1,800km stretch of relatively undeveloped Mediterranean coastline to be one of the world\u2019s most important refuges for loggerhead turtles burying their eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n READ MORE<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Egypt\u2019s tiny blue butterfly makes a comeback from near extinction thanks to Covid-19<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognisable by their large, brawny heads and reddish-brown, heart-shaped carapaces, loggerhead turtles were listed as a threatened species in 1978 under the US Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Countries around the world, including Libya, have since banned their killing and capture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each year, thousands of loggerhead turtles drown in fishing boat dragnets, ingest toxic plastics and have their nesting grounds demolished by urban development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rising sea levels also threaten to swallow their beaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the UN’s Libyan team disbanded, a group of Libyan volunteers relaunched the initiative themselves about a year into the war. And despite having no funding or official support, their efforts are paying off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nesting sites around Libya are on the rise, said the group, known as the Libyan Sea Turtles Programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one stretch of sand monitored closely by the conservationists, they reported 494 nests last year, up from 271 in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of their migratory nature and globally scattered nests, there is no precise data on how many loggerheads exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like nearly all sea turtle species, loggerhead populations have been in decline for decades because of human activity, though in recent years conservation work has helped stabilise them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the clutch<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n