TRIPOLI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- On Farwa Island off the coast of Zuwara in western Libya, environmental activists are busy monitoring and protecting loggerhead sea turtle nests as the annual nesting season approaches.

As the world marks World Environment Day, Nader Najeeb Al-Azzabi, director of the Pisida Association for the Protection of Farwa Island and Lagoon, told Xinhua that the number of nests recorded on the island have increased significantly in recent years thanks to environmental awareness campaigns and protection measures.

Sea turtles are among the oldest living creatures still roaming the world's oceans. With more than 1,900 kilometers of Mediterranean coastline, Libya provides relatively suitable nesting habitats for sea turtles.

Mukhtar Al-Qailoushi, head of the Marine and Wildlife Protection Department at Libya's Ministry of Environment, said the country's coastline is among the most important nesting areas in the Mediterranean for loggerhead turtles, classified by the World Wide Fund for Nature as a threatened species, as "its natural beaches remain relatively distant from urban expansion."

Al-Qailoushi said more than 1,000 nests are recorded annually in areas along Libya's coast covered by field monitoring teams, while it is believed that many nesting sites remain outside the scope of observation.

Despite these advantages, environmental specialists warned that sea turtles in Libya continue to face threats, including plastic pollution, accidental capture in fishing gear, artificial lighting, and coastal urban expansion.

Plastic pollution is one of the most serious threats, Al-Qailoushi said, explaining that turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and ingest them, which could cause potentially fatal digestive complications.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, up to 80 percent of sea turtles in some Mediterranean regions are affected by marine litter amid growing plastic pollution in the semi-enclosed sea.

Al-Azzabi warned that some fishermen, including foreign workers employed on local fishing vessels, continue to place nets along turtle migration routes during nesting seasons, which could cause injuries and deaths of the turtles.

Ashraf Miftah Qulaidan, an environmental activist, highlighted artificial lighting along beaches as a major threat to hatchlings.

Ismail Shagman, a professor of marine sciences at the Faculty of Science of the University of Tripoli, explained that hatchlings naturally rely on moonlight reflected on the sea surface to navigate toward the water. Artificial lighting near nesting beaches can instead draw them inland, significantly reducing survival rates.

Sea turtles are essential for maintaining healthy marine ecosystems and fisheries, experts noted, warning that declining turtle populations could lead to jellyfish proliferation and negatively affect marine environments and fish stocks.

Libya operates a national sea turtle protection program that monitors nesting activities in cooperation with civil society organizations, Al-Qailoushi said.

Monitoring teams conduct beach surveys throughout the nesting season, mark nests and collect scientific data until hatching occurs. Field teams protect nests from predators using specialized metal enclosures and relocate vulnerable nests threatened by flooding to safer locations. Fishermen are encouraged to use environmentally friendly fishing gear and avoid the abandonment of nets.

Hakim Ghali Qandouz, head of activities at the Pisida Association, said sea turtle nest numbers in Libya have risen dramatically since 2013, largely due to volunteer efforts and improved public awareness, as citizens increasingly report injured or stranded turtles, enabling volunteers to transport them to treatment facilities for rehabilitation. ■