Sunday 2 September 2012

Greek Islands: Protected Status, Marine Parks, Natura 2000

About time! But not there yet...

Kathimerini reports on 3 Greek islands

Ever since I carried out extensive research in order to organise a seminar on Cleaning Up the Mediterranean in Corfu some years ago, I have been conscious of the importance of posidonia ('sea grass' meadows), and of the creation of protected marine parks.


Above, Opening Speech, Cleaning Up The Mediterranean Seminar, DSC, Corfu






A proposal to create a marine park in the area of the Diapontian Islands came to nothing. The subject of the seminar did not prove as attractive to members of the public as we'd expected.

Sadly, some of the Natura 2000 (Ecological Network) sites have not proved either popular or effective (eg Paxos), as they have lacked "social consent". Yet Natura 2000 is 'the centrepiece of EU nature and biodiversity policy'.

More on Natura 2000.

Whether it's a problem of hunting in a Pindus national park, or fishing within a marine reserve, it is only too clear that not everybody  is committed to the management or  preservation of the natural heritage.

The EU, and Greece, could learn a lot from an island like Bermuda, where everyone is regularly reminded that a fish in the sea is worth many times more than a fish on the plate. Australia has also created marine reserves.

Gerald Durrell article.



In Memoriam the Mediterranean?


Above: Kardaki Spring, Corfu (from Corfu Blues, the book)


Gerald Durrell


Update: Seagrass Meadows , Science Nordic, August 2018:

New study reveals the first quantitative global evidence for the significant roles that seagrasses play in supporting fishery productivity.



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