Protected areas

Greece is falling short of its goals to protect marine environments, with only 3.4% of its territorial waters under some form of protection, according to a report from nine environmental organizations, including WWF Hellas and Greenpeace.

Greenpeace has called on the Greek government to honor the commitments it made in April, at the Our Ocean Conference, noting that Athens has not ratified the UN Oceans Treaty nor established new marine protected areas.

The nation's protected nature and national parks, which are a sight to behold with their lush foliage, welcomed around 38.9 million visitors between January and August this year.

In view of the ninth international conference on oceans, "Our Ocean," on April 16 and 17 in Athens, the government announced on Monday the first three of Greece's 20 commitments, concerning the creation of marine parks in the Aegean and Ionian seas and a ban on trawling in protected areas from 2026.

With the urge to spend holidays in the lap of mother nature, over 1.3 million people have visited the areas protected by the Nature Conservation and National Parks (DKMP) during the three-day-long Eid holiday.

Bled – Slovenia’s Triglav National Park and Italy’s Prealpi Giulie Nature Park have launched a bid to have the Julian Alps declared as a single trans-boundary UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserve to manage it together.

The planning of the Municipality of Athens for free space in the neighborhoods of the city and the creation of green spaces everywhere, continues with the innovative "pocket parks", which are growing rapidly.

On Thursday, Earth Day, President Klaus Iohannis visited the Vacaresti Natural Park, a wetland area within the limits of Bucharest City, saying that he would extend his protection and high patronage to the park, and that a working group would be set up for the development of the area.

A three-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) repealed the decision of Environment Minister Nino Dimov not to carry out an environmental assessment of the changes in the management of Pirin Park. Separately, the supreme magistrates give obligatory directions to Dimov to observe the laws on protected areas and the protection of the environment.

Minister of the Environment and Water Neno Dimov has signed a declaration nominating four biosphere reserves for inclusion in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

The nominations are for biosphere reserves of a new kind - the Sreburna biosphere reserve, Chervenata Stena (The Red Wall), Uzunbudjak, and the Central Balkan national park.