Greece Designates Gyaros as Marine Protected Area

In post-war Greece, Gyaros was an land of exile for thousands of leftists. Credit: Giorgos Stefanou/WWF Hellas

Greece has officially enacted authorities granting imperishable presumption arsenic a Marine Protected Area (MPA) to the uninhabited and biodiverse islet of Gyaros successful the Cyclades, the Greek subdivision of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced connected Monday.

WWF Greece hailed the signing of the statesmanlike decree—which took spot past Thursday—as a “decisive milestone.” The decree formally establishes imperishable extortion zones, replacing impermanent measures, and sets distant a broad model for absorption and conservation.

Located northwest of Syros successful the cardinal Aegean Sea, Gyaros is simply a captious situation for the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, hosting 1 of its largest remaining populations.

“This imperishable model ensures the semipermanent preservation of the island’s earthy wealth, portion simultaneously supporting the section communities of the Northern Cyclades,” WWF stated. The decree marks the decision of an administrative process that had been pending since 2018.

“Mediterranean monk seals caregiver their young connected unfastened beaches and seabirds nest successful burrows connected the inaccessible rocks. Lush Posidonia meadows nether the aboveground of the sea, wherever the sunlight is mislaid successful the endless blue, and adjacent deeper coral formations, signifier underwater seascapes of unsocial biology worth and unparalleled beauty,” says the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Hellas.

Gyaros: From attraction campy to quality reserve

Following the Civil War (1946-49), the island, which was a spot of exile adjacent successful Ancient Roman times, continued the sedate tradition, with 20,000 people, mostly communists and different dissidents, exiled to Gyaros.

Officially, it was a benignant of reformatory, wherever the unruly would beryllium transformed into “real Greeks” done the usage of assorted punishments. It was a spot of forced labour and torture. Some characterized it arsenic a attraction campy connected Greek soil—the land of the devil.

Since 2013, WWF and a conjugation of 50 spouse organizations person conducted extended technological probe connected the islet. These efforts person led to a marked betterment of some terrestrial and marine habitats, an summation successful food stocks, and the palmy conservation of uncommon species, including the Mediterranean monk seal and the Yelkouan shearwater.

A exemplary for conservation

A cornerstone of this occurrence was an innovative distant surveillance strategy installed and operated by WWF from 2015 to 2023. The task was recognized by the European Commission arsenic a “best practice” for marine conservation crossed the continent. Responsibility for the strategy has since been transferred to the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA), which manages the protected country successful collaboration with the Hellenic Coast Guard.

“Gyaros proves that erstwhile we articulation forces astir a communal vision, quality extortion and sustainable improvement go reality,” said Dimitris Karavellas, General Director of WWF Greece.

The enactment emphasized that Gyaros’s occurrence serves arsenic a blueprint for managing different protected areas crossed Greece, including the 2 precocious established marine parks successful the Southern Cyclades and the Ionian Sea.