In their article titled “New Marine Parks: How LIFE MareNatura Supports the ‘Even More’ to Come”, published in Kathimerini on July 27, 2025, Nadia Andreanidou (MEDASSET) and Ioli Christopoulou (The Green Tank) welcome Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ announcement of the creation of two new national marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. They highlight it as a decisive step toward protecting marine biodiversity and achieving the “30×30” target, as outlined in Greece’s official list of 21 commitments presented at the 9th Our Ocean Conference.
They stress that the announcement was accompanied by the launch of a public consultation on the Special Environmental Studies for the parks — an indication that the initiative is intended to go beyond words.
The authors also focus on the Prime Minister’s most recent statements, indicating that more parks will follow these first two. At the heart of this effort is the LIFE MareNatura project — the largest European project for marine biodiversity currently underway in Greece. Through extensive research and data analysis, the project will help identify key areas for marine biodiversity, promote the expansion of existing protected areas, and guide the designation of new ones, both within and beyond national territorial waters, in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
They emphasize that effective protection requires management, community participation, scientific evidence, and political will — all of which LIFE MareNatura aspires to bring together, turning the country’s commitments into concrete action.
Read the full article in Greek, published in Kathimerini on 27 July 2025, here.
FULL ENGLISH VERSION:
New Marine Parks: A Critical Step PM said, – How LIFEMareNatura contributes to the “more to come “
By Nadia Andreanidou, Programmes and Policy Officer, MEDASSET & Ioli Christopoulou, Co-founder – Policy Director, The Green Tank
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced recently, at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, that Greece will initiate legal procedures for the declaration of two new national marine parks – one in the Ionian Sea and one in the Aegean Sea. This is a decisive step in protecting marine biodiversity, which will help our country achieve, and possibly exceed, the global, European, and integrated “30 × 30” target that provides for the protection of 30% of land and sea by 2030, with 10% of sea under strict protection.
Indeed, on July 21, the announcement began to take flesh and bones: Special Environmental Studies (SES) for the Ionian and the South Aegean National Marine Parks were put into public consultation.
The announcement and public consultation are a continuation of Greece’s commitment to the creation of two new national parks, as announced for the first time by the Prime Minister at the 9th Our Ocean Conference last April in Athens. In the official text of the 21 commitments of the country that had been published at the time, it was noted that the LIFEMareNatura project, the largest European project to protect the marine biodiversity ever implemented in Greece, will contribute decisively to the creation of these new maritime parks. This note is clear evidence that our work is already helping us to turn promises into practice.
In his statement, the Prime Minister noted that after the first two marine parks, there were ‘more to come’. For us, who contribute to the actions of the project, especially their policy dimension, we believe that this statement confirms that the initiative is not an isolated event, but part of a wider, long-term strategy for protecting the marine environment in Greece. The project aims to protect nine important and vulnerable marine species living in the Greek seas. Applying innovative research methods, and covering 228,000 kilometers by air and 10,000 nautical miles by boat, in the Ionian and the Aegean Sea, we collect information on these species, mainly in offshore areas, which have not been sufficiently studied. By analyzing this data, we will identify new important areas (hotspots) for marine biodiversity, and with the application of spatial planning principles, and after extensive consultation, these will be proposed to become part of the Natura 2000 network of Greece. Part of these areas should be put under strict protection in order to achieve the Prime Minister’s commitment for strict protection in 10% of the Greek seas. Given Greece’s obligation to protect the marine environment in the recently established Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), LIFEMareNatura’s contribution will not be limited to national territorial waters, but will propose new protected areas within the Greek EEZ.
The Prime Minister said that the new –under creation– parks would not be another case of paper parks. Indeed, the declaration of an area as protected is only the first step. The essential challenge is the effective management and protection of these areas, an area in which Greece faces numerous hurdles, delays, and even EU court rulings. The public consultation that has just started signals an open and participatory process for the protection of our seas, and we hope it will also lead to their effective management and protection. This requires appropriate scientific tools, active involvement of all stakeholders, surveillance mechanisms, adequate funding and political will. At this juncture, with the combined effort of the state, research bodies, civil society organizations, economic bodies and local communities, we can ensure that the marine areas to be designated as protected — as well as those already under protection — will finally come under effective management and safeguarding. In doing so, we will not only ensure the preservation of marine life, but also our own well-being, in a world that is changing rapidly and unpredictably.
