Fun School Project Raising Environmental Awareness

[Karşıyaka Central Primary School – turtle project]

The final event of Merit Hotels’ school-level social responsibility project, a turtle painting activity for kindergarten pupils, has begun, Yeniduzen reports.

 The first session of this activity, organised in partnership with the Mare Monte Entrepreneurial Philanthropists Association, took place with the young pupils of Karşıyaka Central Primary School. 

This initiative, conducted in cooperation with the Primary Education Directorate of the Ministry of National Education, aimed to ignite students’ imaginations and provide them with a fun, creative outlet through painting. During the event, students were taught how to cast turtle moulds. Following this demonstration, the children enthusiastically painted the moulds in their favourite colours using brushes and paints. 

Held at Karşıyaka Primary School, the event saw participation from Mine Gürses, Social Affairs Coordinator of Merit Hotels, Şeniz Ertarkan, President of the Mare Monte Entrepreneurial Philanthropists Association, and its board members, along with Karşıyaka Central Primary School Principal Ülgen Osmanlı, Deputy Principal İsfendiyar Pilli, and school teachers.

North Cyprus hosts two primary species of sea turtles that nest along its shores: the Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas).

Both species are classified as endangered and are under stringent protection measures. Since 1992, the Marine Turtle Research Group, in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of Turtles in Northern Cyprus (SPOT) and the Department for Environmental Protection, has been conducting annual surveys to monitor turtle activity during the summer months.

With the help of volunteers, you can witness this extraordinary event. Approximately 50 days after the turtles lay their eggs, the tiny hatchlings begin to emerge from their sandy nests.

In recent years, human presence and encroaching activity has threatened the wellbeing of turtle hatchlings who have been unable to reach the sea and have perished on the shore. Other problems such as night time lighting serves to confuse hatchlings trying to reach the sea. Other times have seen turtle nests disturbed by individuals driving their vehicles on the beaches at night.

Yeniduzen