News Archive
The TV show with motor vehicles moving on the protected dunes of Elafonisos, aired in prime-time on 7 decmeber 2020, caused a very negative impression all over Greece.The affected area is home to European priority habitats and endangered endemic plants. According to Greek and EU legislation, the off-road movement of motor vehicles in ecologically sensitive areas, such as the shorelines, sand dunes, and EU priority habitats, is prohibited outright. For the HSPN, which has been working on protecte ...
On 24-25/11/2020, the Plenary of the European Parliament votes to ban the use of lead gunshots in and around wetlands throughout Europe. The serious effects of lead on human health and ecosystems are well-known and scientifically documented. Especially in wetlands, the use of toxic lead has serious consequences for whole food chains, aquatic birds, and even rarer species. For this very reason, in Greece the use of lead gunshot for hunting in wetlands has been banned as early as 2013, and the sam ...
The Lesser Kestrel needs your help! The new LIFE project for the protection of Lesser Kestrel (Life for Lesser Kestrel“ LIFE19 NAT/BG/001017) taking place in Greece and in Bulgaria, with HSPN participation, requires a logo and a slogan.You can help by taking part in the contest organized by the environmental organization Green Balkans, the coordinator of the project. You can send your ideas to hhristova@greenbalkans.org, in English, till the 30th November, copied to info@eepf.gr. The organizers ...
HSPN’s new EU LIFE project for the Lesser Kestrel (LIFE19 NAT/BG/001017) has just been launched. It is funded by the European Commission, and it is implemented in Bulgaria and in Greece. Partners are the Bulgarian environmental NGO Green Balkans (coordinating partner), the University of Thessaly in Greece (Laboratory of Ecosystem and Biodiversity Management), and HSPN. The project aims at the protection and preservation of the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) – a threatened species of small falco ...
Today, forests all over the world are endangered due to deforestation and degradation. There are multiple factors, though research of the European Union indicates that 80% of deforestation has been caused by the expansion of agricultural activities for the production of commodities such as soya, beef and palm oil. Therefore, the European Commission has started a public consultation concerning new legislation and policies so that the products which are linked with the deforestation are reduced. R ...
The case of the Pikrodafni stream was heard today in the Council of State, having in recent years received four postponements given to the Administration in order to procur a plan for the demarcation of the stream.In January 2016, the HSPN together with other bodies and citizens/residents of the surrounding areas, appealed to the Council of the State, for the cancellation of works of the Peripheria (Region) of Attica aiming to box the stream.
HSPN informs you about the systematic effort of the University of the Aegean to collect the Greek names of pollinators, insects that visit the flowers of cultivated and wild plants. This knowledge is not recorded, although it exists, and this effort aims to collect a significant part of it, however hard to trace, and ultimately produce an entomological glossary. You can assist in this effort, regardless of whether you have a professional or personal/amateur occupation, by completing the question ...
The Layman's report of the LIFE ForOpenForests project on Mt.Oiti and Mt.Kallidromo, is available here: http://www.foropenforests.org/el/node/516 The LIFE11 NAT/GR/1014 project for the Conservation of priority forests and forest openings in "Oiti National Forest" and "Mount Kallidromo" in Central Greece was implemented between September 2012 and November 2019. Project partners are: Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (partner coordinator), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens ...
An appeal to the Council of State concerning the forest maps was lodged today 01/10/2020 by seven environmental protection organisations, including the HSPN. According to the Hellenic Society of Environment and Culture, the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the Hellenic Ornithological Society, the Union for Human and Citizen Rights, Callisto, Greenpeace Greece and WWF Greece, the ministerial decision (64663/2956/03.07.2020 (Government Gazette Β 2773)) by the Minister of Environment ...
Joint position of the environmental organisations for the forest mapsThe recent decision of the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis, on the forest maps of the Greek State confirms the worst concerns of the environmental organisations about the ministry's policy in relation to the protection of Greek nature.Decision MinEnv/64663/2956/03.07.2020 (Government Gazette II 2773) comes as a result of the Law 4685/2020, which dismantled important protective provisions of the Biodive ...
The World Environment Day is being celebrated all over the world on 5th June, with events honoring the natural environment of the planet. The 2020 theme is: celebrating biodiversity. This year, in Greece the celebration takes place following two very recent legislations, the Law on the Modernization of Environmental Legislation which was voted a month ago, and the Law on Tourism which was voted a fortnight ago.Law 4688/2020 (‘on the Modernization of the Environmental Legislation’) is expected to ...
The biologist Penelope Delipetrou passed away yesterday. A tireless scientist, unfaltering in her dedication to Greek Nature, a courteous person who inspired everyone and made working together with her pleasant and creative. She used to be one of the leading botanists of Greece, having recorded and studied the flora in many a part of Greece, from the uninhabited remote islets of South Eastern Aegean to the montane forests and meadows of Mt. Oeta, leaving behind her a great legacy. The Hellenic S ...
We can save the important wetland and archeological site of Brexiza in Nea Makri, in Eastern Attica.As the Association of Friends of the Archaeological Museum of Marathon informs us, Brexiza, a site of great historical, archaeological and environmental value, has been under pressure for years from illegal garbage disposal.You can view an information memo (in Greek) for the rescue and restoration of Brexiza, and undersign it, here:https://www.facebook.com/groups/filoi.mouseiou.marathona/permalink ...
April 22nd is World Earth Day, which this year we celebrated under unprecedented circumstances with great pressure on public health and society, while the planet is facing an ongoing ecological crisis.And yet, these days we received good news from Kythera, a remote island along the lifeline ferry route. There, the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature in collaboration with the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems, are implementing for 2.5 years now an interdisciplinary program fo ...
GFF was established in 2008 by FEE to offset CO2 emissions from travel. This non-profit fund is managed under the Learning Αbout Forests (LEAF) programme, by its International Director. The fund invests 90% of its income directly into tree planting and other CO2 compensation efforts that are always combined with environmental education activities.
