The creation two new national marine parks In Ionian and South Aegeanthe prime minister announced Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Their total area extends to 27,500 square kilometers and will prohibit fishing with motorcycles.
“Greece can become a voice of the sea – in Europe, but also beyond it,” he says.
In particular, as the Prime Minister says in a video message:
“The sea has always been the silent power of Greece. It is part of who we are – shaped our culture and history, nourishes our people and cultivates our spirit.
Last month, at the UN Conference on the Oceans on the Mediterranean coast of France, I made a promise – to honor this unique maritime heritage and to protect it for future generations.
Today, I fulfill this promise by creating two new national marine parks – one in the Ionian Sea and one in the Southern Cyclades, in the only Aegean.
These parks will be one of the largest marine protected areas throughout the Mediterranean.
They will allow us to achieve the goal of protecting 30% of our territorial waters by 2030, much earlier than the foreseen.
They will be immense life shelters under the waves.
They will also help maintain ecosystems, restore balance and establish a bold new model for maritime protection.
And perhaps most importantly, within these maritime zones will be banned the extremely devastating practice of the trawler.
If you have seen Sir David Attenborough’s excellent new documentary, “Ocean”, then you know why the creation of these maritime parks is so important.
“Ocean” is a deeply moving movie, but also a film that informs and inspires. He reminded me, as I hope to remind all of us, that the sea is not just a beautiful landscape. It’s life itself. Sensitive. Strong. And under threat.
Sir David’s film reinforced my commitment to do something more in sea management – to redefine our relationship with her. Not as owners. But as guardians.
We will protect, yes. But we will also train, work together and lead.
In collaboration with local communities, local fishermen, scientists, but also with international partners, we will make these parks examples of what is possible. By doing so, Greece can become a voice of the sea – in Europe, but also beyond it.
Because when we protect our ocean, we protect our own future. “
The video with the Prime Minister’s statement:
Eight questions about marine parks:
1.What are national marine parks?
Marine parks are networks of interconnected areas. Their creation offers significant advantages over individual protected areas, mainly due to holistic ecological, administrative and socio -economic approach. Their purpose is to maintain unique biodiversity, to protect and restore habitats and to promote education and awareness of maritime nature.
It is recalled that the creation of national maritime parks was announced, among the other commitments made by Greece by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in April 2024, at the 9th International Oceans Conference held in Athens. At the 3rd UN Conference on the Oceans held in Nice on June 9, the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Ionian National Marine Park and the South Aegean National Park 1-South Cyclades, which is the first step in the design and implementation of the National Maritime Parks.
2. What is practically changing with the institutionalization of national maritime parks?
The parks are instituted in terms of strict environmental criteria, the achievement of a spatial unity and therefore the facilitation of their integrated and meaningful management. The space is treated in a single way and enables the ability to regulate the permitted uses and activities more properly.
National maritime parks will completely ban fishing with motorcycles, with additional measures and restrictions on the effective protection of the most vulnerable habitats and species. The implementation of the relevant measures will be monitored by the use of an integrated monitoring and supervision system by OIPEKA (including, drones, radar, satellite images, etc.) in cooperation with local port authorities.
3. What is the purpose of the institutionalization of the two national maritime parks?
(a) The emergence and documentation of the unique worldwide ecological and scientific value of Polynesia of the South Aegean and the Ionian Sea; b) the protection and management of their valuable ecosystems and species, both in terms of land and in the maritime space, c) Timeless recognition of the area inside and outside the borders as a valuable element of world natural and cultural heritage.
4. What procedure were the boundaries of national marine parks identified?
The boundaries were determined after corresponding specific environmental studies (NSS), which are currently being put into public consultation, in accordance with national and EU legislation on the basis of their ecological and environmental value. The two parks include and integrate scattered protected areas already owned or integrated into the European Natura 2000 network. The parks are consistent and geographically identified so that they can be supervised and able to effectively manage them for their effective protection.
Their extent goes beyond the prime minister’s initial announcements to the 9th Ocean Conference. These provided for marine parks totaling 22,000 km2 (14,000 km2 in the Ionian Sea and 8,000 km2 in the South Aegean). Today, based on the corresponding specific environmental studies, the area increased by 25% and reaches around 27,500 km2 (about 18,000 km2 and 9,500 km2 respectively).
5. Why the South Aegean National Marine Park 1 – Southern Cyclades? Why were these chosen and not other areas? Why don’t you extend to other areas of the Aegean?
Southern Cyclades are prioritized as the first stage of implementation because it is the most sensitive environmentally ecosystem. The area of the Park includes a very important ecological part of the Aegean, which at the same time is under strong pressure due to tourism.
The park was determined by strict scientific criteria. Indeed, its extent exceeds the commitments made in the announcements to Our Ocean Conference.
It is an exercise with great environmental and technical difficulty, which must be ecologically cohesive at the same time, but also to meet the conditions for the effective management, surveillance and protection of the park.
We are gradually proceeding with the first phase in the Cyclades. The next phase will follow. It is recalled that the Northern Aegean already has the Alonissos National Marine Park.
6. Why the Ionian National Marine Park?
The area of the park is crucial for many species of marine mammals that use the Greek ditch of the Ionian Sea as a main area of living and are threatened by anthropogenic pressures such as ship collisions and hypothans noise.
The total area of the park is about 18,000 km2.
7. What are the next steps?
Special Environmental Studies (NSSFs) of the National Marine Parks are currently being put on public consultation until September 22. Immediately afterwards, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy will process the consultation comments and the drafting of the Presidential Decree Plan, with the aim of submitting it to the CoE by the end of October. Upon completion of the legal processing by the CoE and the publication of the presidential decrees, the institutionalization of the two parks is completed.
8. When will you move on to the next phase in the Aegean?
The Aegean National Marine Park 1 – Southern Cyclades is the first phase of a large venture that concerns areas of the whole Aegean. When the implementation of this stage is completed, the following will follow.