The law will come into force in national parks within two years and in all of the country’s marine protected areas by 2030

The law will come into force in national parks within two years and in all of the country’s marine protected areas by 2030

Greece has become the first country in Europeto announce a ban on bottom trawling in all of its national marine parks and protected areas.

The country said will spend €780m (£666m) to protect its “diverse and unique marine ecosystems”.

The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, told delegates at the Our Ocean conference in Athens on Tuesday: “We’ve established two additional marine national parks, one in the Ionian and one in the Aegean, increasing the size of our marine protected areas by 80% and covering one third of our marine territorial waters.

“We will ban bottom trawling in our national parks by 2026 and in all marine protected areas by 2030.”

He said he would also establish a state-of-the-art surveillance system, including drones, to enforce the ban.

  • @NIBEnglish
    3•1 month ago

    While not exactly wrong, Greece has a lot of marine life and even exotic animals like giant turtles, seals and the occasional whale. This isnt a well known fact because these animals are endangered and are protected. I think there were issues with too many tourists trying to check the turtles and/or using beaches. Some beaches are protected and dedicated for turtle use only but people are allowed in most beaches. I am sure the turtles loved covid, they could chill and bury their eggs in peace, wherever they wanted.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loggerhead_sea_turtle

    Greece is the most popular nesting site along the Mediterranean, with more than 3,000 nests per year. Zakynthos hosts the largest Mediterranean nesting with the second one being in Kyparissia Bay. Because of this, Greek authorities do not allow planes to take off or land at night in Zakynthos due to the nesting turtles

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_seal

    Its current very sparse population is one more serious threat to the species, as it only has two key sites that can be deemed viable. One is the Aegean Sea (250–300 animals in Greece, with the largest concentration of animals on Gyaros, and some 100 in Turkey); the other important subpopulation is the Western Saharan portion of Cabo Blanco (around 200 individuals which may support the small, but growing, nucleus in the Desertas Islands – roughly 20 individuals)

    And of course the sea is full of dolphins and less exotic sea life.