The under - creation National Park of the North Dodecanese Islands & Islets

The environmental organization Archipelagos, Institute of Marine & Environmental Research of the Aegean Sea, has had continuous presence in the southeastern Aegean for 5 years. Archipelagos’ work focuses on the scientific research and environmental conservation of the Aegean Sea and islands.
For the first time in Greece, as well as in the eastern Mediterranean in general, an extensive study of the biodiversity of the marine and terrestrial island ecosystems has been carried out.

For the purpose of the research, innovative means and methods in combination with field surveys (audio-visual means, digital cartographic systems, satellite images etc) are being used with the aim of producing a more complete study of the biodiversity of the ecosystems, as well as of their conservational status. Also for the first time in Greece, over 80 scientists from 11 European countries including different specialties (hydrobiologists, ornithologists, botanists, geologists, environmental engineers, chemists, and others) are collaborating and participating within the framework of research and conservation. These scientists work for many months in the field and are frequently under adverse conditions being isolated in the islets of the eastern Aegean.

images from the research in the marine & terrestial environment

It should be noted that the work of all the scientists and members of the organization are truly voluntarily; the work of Archipelagos and of its Institute are not being financed by any national or community program. The funds required for the implementation of the research and conservation work are raised from the applied education and training offered by the Archipelagos, to graduates and students of European universities, as well as from donations of individuals and institutions.

The results of the scientific research, reveal the particular natural richness that characterizes the marine and terrestrial ecosystems in the region of the southeast Aegean. The littoral zone supports highly diverse ecosystems, including extended areas of Posidonia seagrass beds, a protected marine habitat of considerable importance for the productivity of marine ecosystems and fish stocks. The area supports populations of several rare and protected species of marine mammals (monk seals; Bottlenose, Striped, Common and Risso’s Dolphins; Sperm and Cuvier’s Beaked Whales), and loggerhead turtles. The islets, which are characterized by small size, geographical isolation, as well as by the absence of terrestrial predators, constitute an ideal location for the reproduction of many protected bird species both resident (e.g. Bonelli’s Eagles, Long-Legged Buzzards, Peregrine Falcons, Audouin’s Gulls) and migratory (e.g. Eleonora’s Falcons, Lesser Kestrels, Lesser Grey Shrikes), while also providing an important migratory station for a large number of protected migratory bird species (e.g. White-Tailed Eagles, Ospreys, Purple Herons, Black-Winged Stilts, Slender-Billed Gulls).

However, this particular natural wealth is being downgraded by various human activities; especially by the luck of a conservation and management framework. In the coastal zone, the Posidonia seagrass beds are systematically being downgraded, largely because of the ignorance of the fundamental importance of the productivity of marine ecosystems. Unsustainable fishing practices with large-scale fishing gear (e.g. benthic trawlers), as well as the uncontrolled anchorage on seagrass beds, cause irreversible destructions to these habitats.
The unmanaged fisheries practices have greatly downgraded the fishstocks of the region. However, despite these impacts, the marine ecosystems are still in a good condition, and therefore if a sustainable management scheme of the fisheries is applied, we can expect a recovery of the fish stocks as well as of the fisheries productivity.
The terrestrial ecosystems of the islands and the small islets, which have particular importance for the reproduction of rare and protected bird species, are also being continuously downgraded. The overgrazing caused by large herds of goats (exceeding the grazing capacity of the islets), destroys the flora, and also causes intense erosion, meaning the islets are in danger of becoming barren rocks, with no vegetation or soil.

The protection of the unique biodiversity of this region can become an important lever for the development of the island communities. One of the results of the work of Archipelagos is the research and preparatory work for the creation of National Park of the North Dodecanese Islands and Islets. The Park is being prepared in collaboration with a team of internationally recognized scientists from various European countries.
This National Park, which will constitute one of the largest marine parks of the Mediterranean, will encompass 52 islands and islets of the North Dodecanese, extending from Agathonisi, Arki and Lipsi, until Kalolimnos and Imia. In the framework of this National Park, for first time in Greece, there will be protection for a large number of ecosystems and species (marine and terrestrial), while at the same time innovative conservation measures will be applied.

One of the main objectives of this National Park is the support of the traditional professions of the islands (artisanal fisheries, livestock-farming, agriculture etc). At the same time the development of new forms of employment, in the framework of sustainable ecotourism, fishing tourism, and other forms of tourism will be included.

Given the particular biological importance of ecosystems of the region, in combination with the innovative measures of conservation and sustainable development, a large number of scientists from important European universities have visited the Archipelagos research bases in Arki and Ikaria in the last year, in order to participate actively in this important research field.