Marine turtles have been legally protected in Cyprus for over 50 years. The first legal protection was introduced in 1971 under the Fisheries Law (Cap. 135), making Cyprus one of the first Mediterranean countries to adopt specific legislation. The law prohibited the killing, capture, possession and trade of marine turtles and their eggs. These provisions were later consolidated and strengthened through the Fisheries Regulations of 1990 (Regulation 273/90).

Alongside national legislation, European environmental laws play a vital role in protecting marine turtles and their habitats in Cyprus. The EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) requires Member States to protect threatened species and the habitats they depend on, resulting in the protection of key nesting beaches and marine habitats through the Natura 2000 network. In addition, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) aims to protect Europe's seas by promoting healthy marine ecosystems, conserving biodiversity, reducing human pressures and encouraging sustainable use of marine resources. Together, these Directives provide the legal framework for safeguarding marine turtles and the coastal and marine habitats that are essential for their survival. 

Cyprus is one of the most important nesting areas for green and loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean.

The main nesting areas are the Lara–Toxeftra region of the Akamas Peninsula, Chrysochou Bay, and some beaches of the Larnaca coastline. These beaches provide suitable sandy habitats where nesting occurs regularly. These areas are the focus of ongoing conservation and monitoring efforts to help protect nests, reduce human disturbance and support the populations of loggerhead and green turtles in the Mediterranean. 

Marine turtles are long-lived reptiles that spend almost their entire lives at sea. They are powerful swimmers capable of migrating vast distances across the oceans, travelling between feeding areas and nesting sites that may be separated by thousands of kilometres. 

Their life cycle is complex and unfolds over many decades. After hatching on sandy beaches, turtles make their way into the sea, where they spend several years in open waters, drifting with ocean currents and feeding as they grow. They gradually move into coastal habitats, where they continue their development into adulthood.

Once they reach sexual maturity, female turtles display an extraordinary ability known as natal homing, returning with remarkable accuracy to the same region where they hatched to reproduce. This is one of the most fascinating aspects of their biology and plays an essential role in maintaining turtle populations.

Nesting usually takes place at night, when females emerge from the sea and carefully select a suitable place for nesting. They dig a nest chamber in the sand, lay their clutch of eggs, cover the nest, and return to the ocean, leaving the eggs to incubate naturally until the hatchlings emerge and begin the cycle again.

Their entire life history is closely connected to both marine and coastal environments, making them highly dependent on healthy oceans, undisturbed nesting beaches and productive feeding grounds. 

Marine turtles face multiple threats, most of them directly linked to human activities.

On land one of the most significant threats is the loss and degradation of nesting habitats. Coastal development, beach armouring, and human disturbance reduce the availability and quality of nesting beaches. Light pollution caused by artificial lighting from buildings and infrastructure can also disorient both nesting females and hatchlings, causing them to move away from the sea and reducing survival chances.

At sea, major threats are bycatch (accidental capture in active fishing gear) and entanglement (where turtles become trapped in lost or discarded fishing gear or other marine debris). In both cases turtles may be unable to swim, feed, or reach the surface to breathe, leading to injury, exhaustion or drowning. Boat strikes can also be a source of mortality or serious injuries. 

Marine pollution, particularly plastic waste, is a serious and growing problem. Turtles often mistake plastic bags and other debris for food, which can cause internal blockages, malnutrition, or death.

Climate change is an emerging threat that may significantly affect population survival. Rising sand temperatures can reduce hatchling success and alter the natural balance of sex ratios, since the sex of hatchlings is determined by the temperature at which the eggs incubate (temperature-dependent sex determination, TSD).

Predation is a natural part of marine turtle life history, particularly during the earliest stages. Eggs and hatchlings are naturally preyed upon by animals such as mammals, crabs and birds. While this process has always existed in natural ecosystems, its impact can be intensified by human activities that alter coastal environments or increase predator populations, for example through food waste, habitat changes, or altered natural balance. The main predator in Cyprus is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Fox predation can greatly impact turtle populations, significantly reducing the number of young turtles that successfully reach the sea. Many conservation programmes, including the Cyprus Turtle Conservation and Research Project, use targeted measures to reduce predation pressure on nests as a way to counteract other human-related sources of mortality like habitat loss, pollution or bycatch.