July 17th 2024 

The great effort to plant underwater Posidonia gardens continues intensively and will be extended to other areas of the Aegean Islands throughout the autumn.

This is a challenging endeavor to reverse the systematic destruction and deforestation of seagrass meadows that occurs in the Greek seas and the Mediterranean. During the summer months this intensifies due to extensive uncontrolled anchorage of recreational vessels. This is in violation of Greek and EU legislation which stipulates that anchoring over seagrass meadows is prohibited, and it is also while it goes against all logic given that anchorage destroys some of the most vital and productive ecosystems of our seas leading to

– Coastal erosion and disappearance of beaches – a major influence in the tourism industry

– Waters become clouded from meadow destruction, as these play a role in ensuring clarity of our seas

-The most important habitat for juvenile fish that ensures the productivity of fisheries is being deprived

– Perhaps most importantly of all, we allow the destruction of our most important natural ally in tackling the effects of climate change: the Posidonia seagrass meadows absorb and store up to 35 times more carbon than tropical rainforests and release valuable oxygen.

At a time when fatalistic reference to the disappearance and extinction of animal and plant species has become a commonplace, we should be taking action and implementing practical resolutions to reverse the situation instead of wasting time just talking about these problems we have caused.