In the background you can see the Arki island complex, which was designated in 2004 as the “Permanent Wildlife Refuge of the Arki & Islands Cluster of North Patmos” and includes 14 particularly important islands and isles. This institution was the result of research and interventions by the Archipelagos Institute in the area, in close cooperation with the local community of the two inhabited islands – Arki and Marathi – as well as with the Municipality of Patmos and the District Authority of the Southern Aegean.
Let us remember that the whole Aegean is a unique sea of global environmental importance, and not just a short-day vacation destination. Protecting this unique sea and its islands is a common responsibility that we all share.
On every island, big or small, we find traces of the presence of the people who have lived on them or cultivated them for hundreds or thousands of years.
Nowadays, however, most small islands are undervalued and impacted by excessive grazing. The only motive given for the use of the small islands by the local communities is the subsidies for goat herding in extremely arid land. Even though these subsidies are meager, they are ultimately capable of destroying the ranchers livelihood, as well as the islands.
