The Greek authorities on Friday revealed an inventory of 198 “untrodden seashores” that it stated are actually off limits to bars, eating places and huge public gatherings in its newest try and include growth and handle the backlash to the throngs of vacationers that descend on the nation’s coastlines every year.
The transfer comes amid rising frustration amongst residents of Greek islands and elements of the coastal mainland which can be well-liked with overseas guests. Protests ballooned right into a nationwide “seashore towel motion” final summer time as disgruntled locals complained that they had been being pushed off their very own seashores by companies searching for to benefit from a vacationer growth that introduced greater than 32 million overseas guests to Greece final 12 months.
On the nation’s Cycladic islands, native residents joined forces with the authorities to push again towards a wave of development.
Greece’s conservative authorities has pledged to crack down on the event, and on seaside companies that violate rules. In February it handed a legislation aimed toward regulating using the nation’s shoreline, imposing penalties of as much as 60,000 euros for companies occupying greater than 50 % of Greek seashores with umbrellas and solar beds.
Critics stated the legislation didn’t go far sufficient to curb the issue, with some claiming that the federal government was perpetuating the difficulty by not tackling unlawful land use extra comprehensively.
The record of “untrodden seashores,” unveiled in a joint settlement between Greece’s finance and setting and power ministers, is a part of a broader effort to revive steadiness, the federal government stated. “The principle objective is to mix environmental safety with sustainable growth,” Kostis Hatzidakis, the financial system finance minister, stated on Friday.
“The setting is a precious part of the Greek vacationer product,” he stated.
Below the brand new initiative, the federal government was placing public belongings “below a strict framework of guidelines, penalties and obligations,” Mr. Hatzidakis stated. Inspections and transparency could be elevated, as would “the enforcement of the legislation,” he added.
The seashores on the record are in areas included within the European Union’s Natura program, a community of weak habitats throughout Europe which can be protected below European legislation. Among the many seashores listed on Friday are spots on well-liked islands reminiscent of Milos, Naxos, Lesbos, Samothrace and within the southern Peloponnese peninsula.
The islands had been chosen primarily based on the recommendation of the nation’s Pure Surroundings and Local weather Change Company and are all “areas of excessive ecological significance,” Theodoros Skylakakis, the setting and power minister, stated on Friday.
Below the brand new initiative, no part of these seashores could be auctioned off for industrial use, and the presence of sun-loungers and umbrellas might be prohibited, as will the group of public occasions involving greater than 10 individuals.
One other initiative being launched by the federal government is a brand new app known as “MyCoast,” on which individuals can report violations.
Some environmentalists in Greece weren’t impressed by Friday’s announcement. Eleni Andrianopoulou, a resident of Naxos and a member of a neighborhood “Save the seashores” group, stated the federal government’s unique plan had been for greater than 1,000 seashores nationwide to be lined, including that Natura areas require “actual safety.”
“From the start we had confused that this reform for untrodden seashores was a fraud.”
Demetre Karavellas, director of the World Wildlife Fund Greece, stated the authorities had been leaping the gun with their record of pristine seashores, noting that there are greater than 100 marine and coastal areas in Greece which can be acknowledged by the Natura program however have but to be successfully managed or conserved.
“The federal government ought to begin by complying with its fundamental authorized obligations earlier than creating new imprecise classes of safety,” he stated.
