Syria founds natural reserve for sea turtles

Syria is to build an environmental reserve for sea turtles in the region of Jableh-Snouber near Lattakia on the Syrian coast to protect this kind of animals, A report by SANA said today.

Laboratory of sea sciences on the Syrian costal city of Lattakia recently suggested the building of a naval reserve to keep turtles in a nearby place that is expected to be one of the best ten sites on the Mediterranean, the report added.

"Sea turtles have great importance in naval life balance on the Syrian coast. They are now exposed to extinction because of the population activity on the coast and the destruction of the natural hotbeds of turtles the matter that prevent its reproduction. Sands erosion plays a role in this respect," the report said.

Preliminary studies of the laboratory at the Faculty of Agriculture in Tishrin University in cooperation with the Greek Society to Protect Sea Turtles and the General Establishment for Remote Sensing have monitored 164 nests for turtles on the Syrian coast some are for green turtles and others of big-head turtles.

Syria is seriously seeking to protect nature, restore the environmental balance and establish plant and animal reserves. Depending on this fact, it was suggested to find a natural reserve for sea turtles in the coastal region of Jableh near Lattakia.