The southwestern province of Muğla’s Fethiye coastline is expanding the use of red-colored street lighting in an effort to better protect nesting sea turtles, building on a pilot project launched last year at Karaot Beach.
The initiative will now be implemented at Kocaçalış Beach, one of the region’s important nesting grounds for endangered sea turtles.
The project, carried out in cooperation with researchers from Pamukkale University, aims to reduce the impact of artificial lighting on sea turtles during their nesting and hatching seasons. Under the scheme, conventional streetlights near the beach are being replaced with red lighting, which scientific studies have shown has a far lower effect on sea turtles than bright white lights.
Sea turtles rely on natural light cues when nesting and when hatchlings emerge from their eggs and make their way to the sea. Artificial illumination from coastal settlements and tourism facilities can disorient both adult turtles and newborn hatchlings, leading them away from the water and reducing their chances of survival.
According to marine turtle specialist Doğan Sözbilen, Fethiye’s beaches rank among Türkiye’s most significant nesting sites and have been the subject of uninterrupted monitoring and conservation efforts for decades. However, the area is also a major tourism destination where urban development and nesting habitats exist side by side.
Sözbilen noted that red-light applications have gained prominence worldwide as an effective conservation measure because sea turtles have limited sensitivity to red wavelengths. He described the project as a first for Türkiye and emphasized that reducing light pollution is critical to safeguarding nesting behavior and improving hatchling survival rates.
The expert also highlighted that, despite an overall increase in nesting activity across parts of the Mediterranean, the number of nests recorded in Fethiye has remained largely unchanged over the past three decades, making additional protective measures particularly important.
Sea turtles are known to return years later to the same beaches where they hatched in order to nest. Conservationists say protecting hatchlings today will help ensure healthy breeding populations in the
future.
