Last week-end, the Municipality of Sitia and The Green Tank, in collaboration with the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) and Aegean Rebreath, organized an open event on the topic “Restoration of Posidonia Meadows and Underwater Cleaning at Atzikiari Bay” as part of the ARTEMIS project. The event took place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Multipurpose Center (Polykentro) of the Municipality of Sitia.
The Atzikiari Bay area, in the Municipality of Sitia in Crete, is one of the pilot areas of the project where exemplary restoration actions for the Posidonia meadow are being planned by the scientific team of HCMR.
The goal of the meeting was to inform local authorities and citizens about the value of Posidonia meadows and the actions being carried out by the ARTEMIS project partners to support their restoration. The actions include the development of a proposal for a modern regulatory framework, along with the exploration of innovative funding schemes.
The Mayor of Sitia, Giorgos Zervakis, welcoming the initiative on behalf of the Municipality, stated: “The Posidonia meadows, the invaluable forests of the Greek seas, provide priceless benefits to the environment and humanity, but these important ecosystems are constantly under threat. Our sensitive society has, in the past, actively contributed to the protection of the valuable marine ecosystem surrounding us as a Municipality with regular volunteer interventions for cleaning. We will continue in the same way, with even more decisive interventions and targeted actions, applying appropriate scientific practices.”
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- ARTEMIS clean up Atzikiari Bay | Greece April 2025
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- ARTEMIS public event Atzikiari Bay | Greece April 2025
The Vice-Governor of Lasithi, Giannis Androulakis, in his greeting, referred to the strategy of the Region of Crete for promoting the blue economy alongside the protection of important ecosystems like Posidonia meadows. The Region of Crete supports the actions of the ARTEMIS project as a cooperating partner. Through presentations and an open discussion, attendees were informed about how the pilot actions at Atzikiari are paving the way for the implementation of the new European Regulation for the Restoration of Nature in Greece and the Mediterranean. The discussion also highlighted the invaluable role of the local community for the success of these actions.
“Protection and restoration of nature is a team effort. Along with enhancing scientific knowledge and creating a new institutional framework, there is a need for informing and empowering the local community to actively participate. Only then can the Greek state meet its commitments to restore degraded ecosystems, achieving the desired results with benefits for the local community,“ said Dimitra Syrou, Nature Policy Associate at The Green Tank.
From the side of the HCMR Oceanography Institute, recent findings from research in Atzikiari Bay were presented, where 66% of the Posidonia meadow has now been destroyed.
“We chose Atzikiari Bay as the pilot area for the ARTEMIS project because the pressure that led to the degradation of the Posidonia meadow, namely the fish farming unit that operated for 20 years, has been removed. Many times, natural recovery is very slow, and active restoration of the meadows is needed. After evaluating the current situation, the next step is planting new shoots, while ensuring the protection of the recovering meadow from any future pressures will be a key challenge,” emphasized Evgenia Apostolaki, Senior Researcher at the HCMR Oceanography Institute, project partner.
Additionally, the meeting presented the initial results of the cleaning actions of the coast and seabed of Atzikiari Bay, which began on Saturday, April 26, and continued on Sunday, April 27, 2025, by a volunteer diving team from Aegean Rebreath, along with project partners and with the assistance of the Municipality of Sitia. The coastal and underwater cleanup was essential for removing bulky materials and plastics before the implementation of restoration actions, namely the planting of Posidonia, scheduled for May and June 2025.
“This action highlights a problem we encounter throughout Greece: the lack of enforcement of the institutional framework regarding the restoration of areas affected by fish farming units. This gap creates significant issues for the marine environment. However, the response from the Municipality and the support provided can serve as an example for other municipalities facing similar problems,” said Giorgos Sarelakos, CEO and Founder of Aegean Rebreath.
