Nature protection and biodiversity - Why care? (Greece)

Greece is in a biodiversity ’hot spot’ region, with more than 1 500 endemic species and more than 70 % habitat loss in historic times (EEA, 2007), hosting a notable biodiversity, while its flora and diversity in certain animal groups (e.g. birds, reptiles, terrestrial mollusks, isopods) is amongst the highest in Europe and the Mediterranean (e.g Legakis et al., 2006; Strid and Tan; 1997, Strid, 2006).

Nature protection needs in Greece arise from urban sprawl, infrastructure development, over-exploitation of species and natural resources, pollution, eutrophication, desertification, intensive agriculture in the lowland,s and land abandonment in more remote regions, often of high nature value. In coastal areas, the uncontrolled expansion of tourism and/or illegal fishing activities, the invasion of aquatic alien species due to rising sea temperature constitute additional factors threatening our ecosystem biological functions and processes.