The Greek authorities on Friday revealed an inventory of 198 “untrodden seashores” that it stated are actually off limits to bars, eating places and enormous public gatherings in its newest try to comprise improvement and handle the backlash to the throngs of vacationers that descend on the nation’s coastlines annually.
The transfer comes amid rising frustration amongst residents of Greek islands and elements of the coastal mainland which might be standard with overseas guests. Protests ballooned right into a nationwide “seaside towel motion” final summer time as disgruntled locals complained that they have been being pushed off their very own seashores by companies in search of to benefit from a vacationer increase that introduced greater than 32 million overseas guests to Greece final yr.
On the nation’s Cycladic islands, native residents joined forces with the authorities to push again towards a wave of building.
Greece’s conservative authorities has pledged to crack down on the event, and on seaside companies that violate laws. In February it handed a regulation geared toward regulating using the nation’s shoreline, imposing penalties of as much as 60,000 euros for companies occupying greater than 50 p.c of Greek seashores with umbrellas and solar beds.
Critics stated the regulation 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 atmosphere ministers, is a part of a broader effort to revive steadiness, the federal government stated. “The principle aim is to mix environmental safety with sustainable improvement,” Kostis Hatzidakis, the economic system and finance minister, stated on Friday.
“The atmosphere is a worthwhile element of the Greek vacationer product,” he stated.
Underneath the brand new initiative, the federal government was placing public property “below a strict framework of guidelines, penalties and obligations,” Mr. Hatzidakis stated. Inspections and transparency could be elevated, as would “the enforcement of the regulation,” 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 might be protected below European regulation. Among the many seashores listed on Friday are spots on standard islands corresponding to Milos, Naxos, Lesbos, Samothrace and within the southern Peloponnese peninsula.
The islands have been chosen primarily based on the recommendation of the nation’s Pure Setting and Local weather Change Company and are all “areas of excessive ecological significance,” Theodoros Skylakakis, the atmosphere and power minister, stated on Friday.
Underneath the brand new initiative, no part of these seashores could be auctioned off for business use, and the presence of sun-loungers and umbrellas might be prohibited, as will the group of public occasions involving greater than 10 folks.
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 an area “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 harassed that this reform for untrodden seashores was a fraud.”
Demetre Karavellas, director of the World Wildlife Fund Greece, stated the authorities have been leaping the gun with their record of pristine seashores, noting that there are greater than 100 marine and coastal areas in Greece which might 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 primary authorized obligations earlier than creating new imprecise classes of safety,” he stated.
