A line in the sand The fight against Insta tourism

Campaigners are battling to protect wildlife and habitats from the ever-growing number of visitors seeking a picture-perfect holiday

- Sarah Collins, Eliza Amouret and Vittoria Torsello

In the summer months in Puglia, southern Italy, the battle for the beaches begins before dawn. Armed with tractors, beach owners flatten every imperfection from the sand. As the sun rises, tourists flood the coastline, often unaware of what lies hidden beneath their feet.

Around 60cm below the surface, delicate eggs laid by loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) are waiting to hatch. For the turtles, the beach is not a beauty spot but a habitat.

As sand groomers have been transforming beaches from vital habitats into backdrops for photoshoots, their work has had an enormous impact on the turtle population. "Occupation of the beach by private owners reduces a vital living space for the turtle," said Salvatore Urso, a naturalist and cofounder of Caretta Calabria Conservation, who has been monitoring and protecting loggerhead turtle nests since 2005. "There is still not much sensitivity to coexisting with this species." Tractors can not only crush or displace eggs, their mere presence can scare away female turtles, preventing them from nesting.

As tourism surges in the region, the nests are protected by a handful of dedicated experts and volunteers.

Piero Carlino is director of the Sea Turtle Recovery Centre in Calimera, where staff dedicate their summers to rescuing turtle eggs. They monitor the beaches on foot and with drones to spot nests, and when a nest is identified, volunteers place a fence around it to protect it during incubation. Later, they provide support during hatching, helping to guide the turtles towards the sea. "People look at our dedication and think we're crazy," said Carlino.

The sand groomers v the turtles is one of a series of conflicts between wildlife and tourists that scientists and activists say are playing out around the Mediterranean as the holiday season looms.