1. From ignorance to international recognition
Greek Island Wetlands
From ignorance to international recognition
Thanos Giannakakis
WWF Greece
Hello ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your invitation and the hospitality.
My name is Thanos Giannakakis, and I was the coordinator of a WWF Greece project called "Conservation of the island wetlands of Greece”.
This project was completed some years ago, but before that it set up the base for its expansion throughout the Mediterranean Basin.
Today, I am going to present the results of the WWF project in the islands of Greece shortly, I am going to show you how the problems that the Greek island wetlands face are identical in all the Mediterranean islands and generally in the entire costal zone of the Mediterranean Basin, and finally I will show you how the Greek project can be applied in the Croatian Islands and consequently in all the Mediterranean Basin.
Zagreb, 28/03/2018
© Nikos Georgiadis / WWF Greece

2. Mediterranean Basin: A global hotspot for the biodiversity
Ok! Who knows what exactly shows this picture?
We are living in a marvelous part of the world. A place in which people exist since thousands of years ago and great civilizations flourished.
The Med Basin, a place which is considered a biodiversity hotspot, the third richest in terms of plant diversity among 35 biodiversity hotspots of the world.

3. Why the Mediterranean Basin is threatened?
Main socio-economic figures
7% of the global population (almost 480 millions of inhabitants)
250 millions are leaving in coastal water basins
28% of the international tourism (approximately 285 millions arrivals per year)
11,5% of global Gross domestic product (GDP)
Development continue to depend mainly on environmental resources (space, water, wetlands, etc.)
However, we are living in a place which rapid economic development and the growing human population created strong pressures on the natural resources of the Mediterranean basin.

4. Wetlands of the Mediterranean
During the last century, wetlands lost is estimated at 50%
The current wetland surface is estimated at million hectares.
% Minimum wetland loss
% Maximum wetland loss
With regard to wetlands, it is estimated that on average, 50% of Mediterranean wetlands have been lost during the last century and in some countries such as Spain and Greece, these are 30 years old. During the 1990s and 2000s development was faster and more wetlands could be considered as lost.
Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory Factsheets - Synthesis of the 1st report “Mediterranean Wetlands – Outlook

5. Degradation activities
The activities responsible for the degradation of wetlands are common in all Mediterranean countries.
These images were taken in the Greek islands, but the same activities exist here or in France or anywhere ...
Construction in wetland areas like that photo

6. Degradation activities

7. Degradation activities
Construction of roads and land dumping, debris ...

8. Degradation activities
Construction of roads and land dumping, debris ...

9. Degradation activities
Other activities such as land use change (agriculture, tourism activities, etc).
In this example, some people considered that this salt marsh is a place they could use for motocross, obviously illegal.
Jumps were made with mounds of land, thus destroying a part of the wetland.
We have made a complaint to the public services and the district attorney, they had stopped, but the destruction remained.

10. Degradation activities
And that is specifically the situation in the whole Mediterranean coast, in all the Med countries.
That is an example of a Greek island called Ios.
When we visited the area in 2004, the small beach and the wetland was intact. There were no roads no buildings, nothing.
But in 2008 someone who bought 13% of the island, began to build, illegal, that house.
We have made complaints to the public services and the owner has paid more than € 150,000 in fines.

11. Degradation activities
Today, that is the situation. A destroyed wetland, a private beach and someone who can pay and destroy.
At first, the owner said that this would serve as his home, but his real plans was to have this place as a private hotel for upper class people. The difference between what was happening 50 years ago and today is obvious. In the past they were destroying wetlands to survive, today they do it for pleasure.

12. They are the most vulnerable wetlands due to both natural processes and anthropogenic processes, in particular, global warming, urban and rural development.
But what is the value of wetlands in the Mediterranean islands?
The wetlands on the islands are small. In Greece, 70% of wetlands are less than 8 hectares
In almost all cases, the wetlands on the islands are islands within an island. Imagine an island whose conditions are altered compared to those of the continent (dry in summer, restricted space for flora, fauna and humans). In these conditions, the small humid areas are like islands for aquatic species. If these small humid areas are lost, then all the flora and fauna established in this small wetland will be lost forever.
So, those sites have great value for biodiversity.
In general, wetlands are good indicators of the quality and quantity of water on the islands. In fact, historically, many of the natural systems were wetlands during the winter and were cultivated during the dry summer. At least this is what happens in Greece, but I am sure they happen here as well.
The wetlands on the islands also have a great cultural value as for example in Greece many archaeological sites are right next to the wetlands.
Finally, the wetlands of the islands are good indicators of climate change, but at the same time coastal wetlands have a clear potential to mitigate the effects of the climate change.

13. They can be destroyed in literally one night
Threats…
They can be destroyed in literally one night
however, the wetlands on the islands ... can be destroyed in one night.
Here is an example in Crete. In 2010 the owner of that land, decided to build a restaurant for weddings of more than 1500 people ...

14. The inventory 824 wetlands > 0,1ha 76 islands >780 visits
In 2004, WWF launched the project “Conservation of the islands wetlands of Greece”. During these years, we had visited more than 1000 potential sites such as wetlands. In the end, 824 wetlands were identified in 76 islands, with an area of more than 0.1 hectare, natural and artificial.
The inventory is based on the WetMed methodology and all data has been organized and published in a database open to citizens and public services.

15. Advocacy activities
At the same time, we developed a volunteer network in many Greek islands. The purpose of this network was to inform the core team about degradation activities and thus to act on time in order to stop these activities. We manage more than 200 cases of degradation, stopping many of them (black dots), while in many cases we carry out conservation actions, such as ...

16. Wetland restoration

17. Crisis management

18. Education and awareness

19. Improvement of the legal protection framework
Proposals for the modification of the limits of 7 Wildlife Refuges and the establishment of 6 new ones on the island of Lesvos.
Protection of 5 important wetlands
Proposals to the competent authorities for the protection of wetlands through the territorial management plans
> 80 wetlands have been protected in urban plans
One of the most important aspects of this project was to improve the legal framework of the island wetlands, thus protecting them. We have worked at many levels, at local, regional and national levels.

20. Improvement of the legal protection framework
Proposal of an integrated legal framework for the protection of biodiversity
The Biodiversity Law, approved in 2011, includes the regulatory provisions for the protection of small island wetlands
We provide all the necessary data and documentation for the preparation of a presidential decree for the protection of the small wetlands of the islands - signed in February 2012
The presidential decree was signed in February 2012, and today 380 small natural wetlands (<8 ha), on 59 islands are strictly protected
At national level…

21. Improvement of the legal protection framework
Finally, thanks to the project, the number of protected wetlands has almost doubled from 332 to 567 wetlands.

22. Conservation of the island wetlands of the Med Basin
But we also work internationally.

23. Thank you!
Thank you very much for your attention!