October 28th 2024

The effective protection of the coralligenous habitats of the Aegean is one of the most challenging goals of this winter for all of us at the Archipelagos Institute.

These highly productive and uniquely beautiful ecosystems were, until recently, almost unknown in our seas, and are also the most endangered. Taking advantage of the rare characteristic clear waters of the Greek seas, and thus the ability of light to penetrate to great depths, coral ecosystems in the Aegean are found at depths of 70-250 metres – in contrast to similar ecosystems in places such as the western Mediterranean, which are found at 40-150 metre depths, or tropical reefs found in shallow coastal waters.

These ecosystems have never been mapped in Greece, despite the fact that it is required by national and international legislation. This lack of knowledge regarding their location makes them vulnerable to human interventions in deep waters. It needs to be emphasized that any destruction is considered irreversible, as coralligenous ecosystems are characterized by a particularly slow growth rate (<1 mm/year).

The main threat to coral habitats is fishing with towed gear (trawling), while they are also affected by static nets that are set in deep water and left there for many hours (or even days). However, a new threat that we will have to face in the coming years is from the so-called climate saviours, or ‘green investors’ and their proposed floating wind turbines on the ‘free marine plots’, as they perceive them. Apart from many other impacts (e.g. intense and constant underwater noise pollution, killing of migratory birds etc.), their installation requires a system of continuous deep-water mooring with multiple anchorages per generator, on ecosystems which they have never bothered to map. As a result, the siting that has already begun is being done with complete ignorance of what is going to be destroyed.

It seems that our generations have set out to leave no natural resources nor productive ecosystems, and are on track to leave a bleak future for future generations…