Lily Venizelos (; born 10 April 1933) is a Greek conservationist. She founded the international

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

MEDASSET (MEDiterranean Association to Save the SEa Turtles) in 1988 and continues to serve as its president. For her efforts to protect and preserve

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerh ...

s in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, Venizelos received several distinctions, including

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

’s ''

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNE ...

'' and membership of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ''Marine Turtle Specialist Group''.

Early life

Venizelos mostly grew up on the island of Hydra in the

Attica region Attica ( ; , ) is an administrative region of Greece, that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, the core city of which is the country's capital and largest city, Athens. The region is coextensive with the former Attica Prefecture o ...

. From an early age she was interested in nature. In 1974, Venizelos first visited Laganas Bay on Zakynthos Island, which would later become the National Marine Park of Zakynthos. Venizelos is married to . They live in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Career

Laganas Bay on Zakynthos Island is the largest nesting ground for the endangered

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of sea turtle, oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around ...

(''Caretta caretta'') in the Mediterranean. Since the 1970s/1980s, the nesting beaches were increasingly threatened by tourism development. Venizelos then started lobbying the Greek government for the sea turtle's protection, until the National Marine Park of Zakynthos was established in 1999 as the first national marine park in Greece. In 1987, a planned hotel development on

İztuzu Beach İztuzu Beach is a 4.5 km long beach near Dalyan, in the Ortaca district of the Province of Muğla in southwestern Turkey. The beach is a narrow spit of land, which forms a natural barrier between the fresh water delta of the Dalyan river ...

in southwestern Turkey was going to threaten breeding grounds for the loggerhead sea turtle. Several conservationists, including

June Haimoff June Haimoff (MBE) (27 December 1922 – 23 April 2022) was an English environmentalist who lived in Dalyan in the Turkish province of Muğla. In the period from 1984 to 1988 she and fellow-environmentalists such as David Bellamy, Lily Veniz ...

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English academic, botanist, television presenter, author and prominent environmental campaigner in the UK and globally. His distinctive, energetic style of presenting became wel ...

, Peter Günther, Nergis Yazgan, Lily Venizelos and Keith Corbett, achieved that a moratorium was called. One year later, the area was declared the

Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area The Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area is a protected natural reserve in the Turkish province of Muğla Province, Muğla. In June 1988 it was determined and declared the first protected area of its kind (''Özel Çevre Koruma ...

. Beginning in 1983, Venizelos founded the Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles (MEDASSET), established in the United Kingdom in 1988 and in Greece in 1993. MEDASSET is active in the study and conservation of sea turtles and their habitats in the Mediterranean. The international

engages in research, education, lobbying, and awareness raising. It is a partner to the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan, and a Permanent Observer-Member to the

Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the '' de facto'' capital of Switzerland, referred to as the " federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has governmental i ...

, Council of Europe. As president of MEDASSET, Venizelos has authored publications and reports, given international lectures, lead campaigns, and coordinated projects. Venizelos was awarded ''The Global 500 – The Roll of Honour for Environmental Achievement'' of the

in 1987. In 2015, Venizelos received a ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' from the International Sea Turtle Society in recognition of her work for the conservation of sea turtles. Venizelos is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ''Marine Turtle Specialist Group'', which is regarded as “the global authority on marine turtles”. Venizelos was a scientific consultant for the documentary TV series ''Universum'' for the episode ''Greece – Garden of the Gods'', which aired in 2005.

Selected publications

* Newbury, N., Khalil, M., & Venizelos, L. (2002). Population status and conservation of marine turtles at El-Mansouri, Lebanon. Zoology in the Middle East, 27, 47 - 60. * Venizelos, L. and Kasparek, M. (2006): Trionyx triunguis: The brackish water turtle that also lives in the Mediterranean Sea. Conference Paper. Conference: 26th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and ConservationVolume: Frick, M., A. Panagopoulou, A. Rees and K. Williams (eds). * White, M., Haxhiu, I., Kararaj, E., Mitro, M., Petri, L., Saçdanaku, E., Trezhnjevna, B., Boura, L., Grimanis, K., Robinson, P., & Venizelos, L. (2011). Monitoring and conservation of important sea turtle feeding grounds in the Patok Area of Albania 2008-2010: Final Project Report. * Venizelos, L., Papapavlou, K., Dunais, M., & Lagonika, C. (2005). A review and reappraisal of research in some previously unsurveyed Mediterranean marine turtle nesting sites, 1990–2001. Belgian Journal of Zoology, 135, 271–277.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venizelos, Lily Conservationists Greek environmentalists

Lily ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

1933 births People from Hydra (island) Living people Place of birth missing (living people)