The two new ones National marine parks in southern Cyclades and Ionianannounced today by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, are set up today until September 22 in public consultation.
Consultation begins According to national and union legislation, In order for interested citizens and bodies to submit their comments and proposals. These will be taken into account for the final formation of the Ionian National Maritime Park and the South Aegean National Park 1 – Southern Cyclades.
The National marine parks They are networks of interconnected protected areas. Their creation offers significant additional advantages over the hitherto individual protected areas of the Natura 2000 network, mainly due to holistic ecological, administrative and socio -economic approach. Their purpose is to maintain unique biodiversity, protect and restore habitats and promote awareness of the marine environment.
Questions – Answers for National Marine Parks
1) What are national marine parks?
The sea parks They are networks of interconnected protected 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 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?
Parks are instituted with a strict environmental criteria, The achievement of a spatial unity and consequently 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 application of relevant measures will be monitored by using integrated system Monitoring and Supervision by Opypeca (including, drones, radar, satellite images, etc.) in collaboration with local port authorities.
3) What is the goal of institutionalizing 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) By what procedure were the boundaries of national marine parks determined?
Limits were identified Following corresponding specific environmental studies (NSS), which are currently put into public consultation, according to national and Union 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 South Aegean National Marine Park 1 – Southern Cyclades includes 18 existing areas of the Natura 2000 Network and the Ionian National Marine Park of 24 areas. 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 in fact It exceeds the Prime Minister’s initial announcements to the 9th Oris 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 are crucial for many species of marine mammals using the Greek trench of the Ionian as the main living area and are threatened by anthropogenic pressures such as ship collisions and underwater noise.
The total area of the park is about 18,000 km2.
7) What are the next steps?
Special Environmental Studies (EPM) of 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.
Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou said:
‘The two new national marine parks are intended to effectively protect our seas and the preservation of the biodiversity of our country.
Their extent to the Ionian and Southern Cyclades exceeds the original commitments of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, approaching 27,500 sq. Km. With their introduction, we achieve more than 35% of our country’s territorial waters on the one hand, on the other hand the European goal of our country much earlier than 2030.
So we protect more effectively the ecosystems in our two seas, This unique natural wealth of our country, which belongs to all of us.
It is the first phase: Our government will continue to establish new maritime parks in other areas of the Aegean, with environmental cohesion, as the sea and the host species are an integral part of our national identity.
We have to safeguard it and hand it over to our children to future generations, just as we found it: full of life. “