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Today, forests all over the world are endangered due to deforestation and degradation. There are multiple factors, though research of the European Union indicates that 80% of deforestation has been caused by the expansion of agricultural activities for the production of commodities such as soya, beef and palm oil. Therefore, the European Commission has started a public consultation concerning new legislation and policies so that the products which are linked with the deforestation are reduced. Read more here:
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HSPN’s new EU LIFE project for the Lesser Kestrel (LIFE19 NAT/BG/001017) has just been launched. It is funded by the European Commission, and it is implemented in Bulgaria and in Greece. Partners are the Bulgarian environmental NGO Green Balkans (coordinating partner), the University of Thessaly in Greece (Laboratory of Ecosystem and Biodiversity Management), and HSPN.
The project aims at the protection and preservation of the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) – a threatened species of small falcon which nests in rural areas and whose population has dramatically declined.
The project areas in Greece are two protected areas of the Natura 2000 network, near Orestiada in Evros river, and Anthophyto in Kilkis prefecture.
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In January 2016, the HSPN together with other bodies and citizens/residents of the surrounding areas, appealed to the Council of the State, for the cancellation of works of the Peripheria (Region) of Attica aiming to box the stream.
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HSPN informs you about the systematic effort of the University of the Aegean to collect the Greek names of pollinators, insects that visit the flowers of cultivated and wild plants.
This knowledge is not recorded, although it exists, and this effort aims to collect a significant part of it, however hard to trace, and ultimately produce an entomological glossary.
You can assist in this effort, regardless of whether you have a professional or personal/amateur occupation, by completing the questionnaire of the Laboratory of Biogeography and Ecology of the University of the Aegean, here: https://forms.gle/NBX1VuMg2mnJ3azs6.
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The Layman's report of the LIFE ForOpenForests project on Mt.Oiti and Mt.Kallidromo, is available here: http://www.foropenforests.org/el/node/516
The LIFE11 NAT/GR/1014 project for the Conservation of priority forests and forest openings in "Oiti National Forest" and "Mount Kallidromo" in Central Greece was implemented between September 2012 and November 2019.
Project partners are: Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (partner coordinator), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Region of Central Greece, Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems (IMDO) of ELGO-Dimitra, and NGO Arctouros.
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An appeal to the Council of State concerning the forest maps was lodged today 01/10/2020 by seven environmental protection organisations, including the HSPN.
According to the Hellenic Society of Environment and Culture, the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the Hellenic Ornithological Society, the Union for Human and Citizen Rights, Callisto, Greenpeace Greece and WWF Greece, the ministerial decision (64663/2956/03.07.2020 (Government Gazette Β 2773)) by the Minister of Environment, Mr. K. Hatzidakis:
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The recent decision of the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis, on the forest maps of the Greek State confirms the worst concerns of the environmental organisations about the ministry's policy in relation to the protection of Greek nature.
Decision MinEnv/64663/2956/03.07.2020 (Government Gazette II 2773) comes as a result of the Law 4685/2020, which dismantled important protective provisions of the Biodiversity Law 3937/2011, weakened the environmental licensing process and dealt a major blow to the protection of forest land.
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The World Environment Day is being celebrated all over the world on 5th June, with events honoring the natural environment of the planet. The 2020 theme is: celebrating biodiversity.
This year, in Greece the celebration takes place following two very recent legislations, the Law on the Modernization of Environmental Legislation which was voted a month ago, and the Law on Tourism which was voted a fortnight ago.
Law 4688/2020 (‘on the Modernization of the Environmental Legislation’) is expected to radically change the natural environment of Greece in the coming years - and this change will most probably be in favor of investments and developments, with a heavy toll on biodiversity.
Following the provisions of the Law, environmental licensing will be oversimplified, as it is seen as a barrier to investment and not as a guarantor for the protection of the natural environment nor for a healthy investment environment. Heavy-impact land uses are allowed in protected areas, even in areas of absolute protection of nature, and in and around our most emblematic National Parks. Furthermore, the institutional and operational structure of protected areas will be weakened as its autonomy, its capacity for opinions, the mechanisms for participation and the contact with local communities will all be reduced. In conclusion, environmental protection seems to be seen as an obstacle to other land-uses of these sites.
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The biologist Penelope Delipetrou passed away yesterday. A tireless scientist, unfaltering in her dedication to Greek Nature, a courteous person who inspired everyone and made working together with her pleasant and creative. She used to be one of the leading botanists of Greece, having recorded and studied the flora in many a part of Greece, from the uninhabited remote islets of South Eastern Aegean to the montane forests and meadows of Mt. Oeta, leaving behind her a great legacy. The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature had the honor to cooperate with Penelope for years in the project LIFE ForOpenForests, in which she was one of the most crucial contributors, as well as in many other projects and programs. We express our warmest condolences to her family.
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We can save the important wetland and archeological site of Brexiza in Nea Makri, in Eastern Attica.
As the Association of Friends of the Archaeological Museum of Marathon informs us, Brexiza, a site of great historical, archaeological and environmental value, has been under pressure for years from illegal garbage disposal.
You can view an information memo (in Greek) for the rescue and restoration of Brexiza, and undersign it, here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/filoi.mouseiou.marathona/permalink/2933804336667072/ You can send it to the Friends Association of the Museum..
“The area of Brexiza in Nea Makri is a small wetland receiving water from a source located on Marathon Avenue. Also known as the Small Swamp as opposed to the Big Swamp of Schinias, it played a strategic role in Greek history in the planning of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC. In 160 AD on the sea front of Brexiza, the great orator and sophist Herod Atticus built an extensive complex of temples of worship of Egyptian gods, a bath and an aquarium.
