Biodiversity & Natural Resources

The SAvE Whales project (System for the Avoidance of ship-strikes with Endangered Whales) has successfully completed its second year of implementation, marking significant progress in developing and testing a complementary and innovative early warning system to prevent ship collisions with sperm whales in the Kythira Strait.

Between 7 and 10 October 2025, The Green Tank participated in the third in-person meeting of the ARTEMIS project in Monfalcone, Italy — an important opportunity for project partners to assess progress and coordinate next steps in this broad Mediterranean initiative to restore and conserve Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows through innovative scientific, policy, and financial approaches.

In July 2025, the European Commission presented the “Roadmap Towards Nature Credits”, an initiative that examines how nature protection and restoration can be enhanced through private finance, and in particular, through reliable, scientifically based and transparent nature credit schemes. The Green Tank, together with the partners of the Interreg Euro-MED ARTEMIS project, contributed to the public consultation.

The Green Tank has submitted comments on the public consultations for the National Marine Parks of the Ionian Sea and the South Aegean – Southern Cyclades, expressing its support for their establishment and protection, as well as its satisfaction with the country’s fulfillment of commitments to marine biodiversity conservation and the creation of new marine protected areas.

In the article titled "Nature works for us for free. But for how much longer?", published in the newspaper Ta Nea, Dimitra Syrou, Nature Policy Associate at The Green Tank, explains that nature provides critical services for free – such as CO₂ absorption and flood protection – upon which our economy and society depend. Nevertheless, these Ecosystem Services are not valued and are thus assumed to be given and inexhaustible, resulting in their uninterrupted provision being undermined by human activities.

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.

The Green Tank contributed to a major study assessing the governance of Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs) worldwide. The study was led by a team from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), with input from the Fidelio program and under the scientific guidance of Dr. Nicoletta Jones (Warwick University / University of Cambridge).

The Natural Heritage Mission of the Interreg EURO-MED programmes, in collaboration with the Organization for Natural Environment and Climate Change (OFYPEKA) and the National Technical University of Athens, celebrated European Maritime Day “In My Country” by organizing a workshop on “Governance solutions for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Mediterranean,” on Thursday 3 July 2025. The Green Tank and the ARTEMIS project were represented by Dimitra Syrou, while Alice Wittevrongel from Plan Bleu, the lead partner of the ARTEMIS project, coordinated the working group on the theme of 'Restoration'."

Ioli Christopoulou (The Green Tank) and Nicolas Entrup (OceanCare) joined Katerina Batzaki on ERT’s English-language radio show Infinitely Curious to discuss the threats facing Mediterranean sperm whales and the role of the SAvE Whales project in their protection.

A side event at the 10th Our Ocean Conference in Busan, Korea showcased progress on the innovative SAvE Whales system, one year after its joint commitment was announced in Athens. The collaboration between Greek authorities and conservation organisations aims to prevent ship strikes on endangered sperm whales in the Mediterranean.

In an open event held in Sitia, local stakeholders and residents were informed about the model restoration activities of Posidonia oceanica meadows in Atzikari Bay, as part of the Interreg Euro-MED ARTEMIS project. The event showcased the first results of beach and underwater clean-up efforts in Atzikari Bay.

The Green Tank at the first The National Workshop “Towards Free Flowing Rivers in Greece”, organized by MedINA.

Contribution by The Green Tank to the development of guidelines for a more effective integration of nature into business practices

An article was published on the ARTEMIS project website about the project pilot area in Greece, featuring interviews from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) and The Green Tank, the project partners in Crete.