By Yorgos “George” Marinakis, george@JournalofSustainability.com
Greece is like a scorpion. Thrace forming its tail, Athens forming its head, Crete and Rhodes forming the claws, it stings and paralyzes all who come near. I thought I was immune to its poison, until I watched my first sun set into the white caps of the Aegean Sea, and became one of her millions of victims, unable to move myself away from her many beaches. I was not alone. Greece is a leading tourist destination of the world, and for good reason. Greece possesses a diverse natural beauty. The Aegean islands are desert. The Ionian islands are verdant. Northern Greece is alpine. The Peloponnese is mountainous and forested. It is a land possessing 5500 species of flora and 900 species of fauna.
In addition to her natural beauty, the Greeks themselves make her popular through their famous hospitality. Whether by culture or genetics, the Greeks are a bold people. Three thousand years ago they invaded the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, probably coming from what is now Armenia, and either displaced or conquered the resident Pelasgians (possibly the ancestors of the Etruscans and Romans, and Romanians). They liked what they saw, and decided to stay. They are still there, and they have repulsed the attacks of everyone since. The legendary hospitality of the Greeks evidences the lighter side of that boldness. It’s not that the Greeks love strangers. It’s that we are not afraid of strangers. This same lack of fear is what enabled our ancestors to invade and occupy Greece in the first place. The fierce fight of the Greeks first against the Ottomans and then against the Nazis evidences the dark side of their boldness. A kind and gentle people does not occupy a land, nor fight for it for three thousand years.
The Greeks have always been fishermen, and they always will be, but today they are fishers of tourists. With cunning they set up souvenir shops in the cities and villages, dangling their replicas of sculpture and ceramics like bait, sometimes patiently waiting for the unsuspecting tourists to bite, other times encouraging them in with a demonstrative wave of the hand and a welcoming raised eyebrow. “Come in,” they smile. “Looking is free.”
With a beguiling landscape, and an accommodating and enterprising people, Greece is a candidate for tourist invasions, and invade they do every year--13 million of them, and that in a Nation of 10.7 million. With them they bring litter of all sorts, including plastic water bottles, cigarette butts, paper napkins, ticket stubs. It is instructive to examine what the Greeks have done to protect their environment, particularly as an example of ecotourism in the Developed World. Some of their measures are self-evident. Whereas here in my suburban American housing development clotheslines are forbidden and no one would even consider solar energy, in Greece the rooftops—even in the most elite part of Athens—are covered with solar water heaters.
Governmental Actions
The sustainable development of Greece must be considered in the context of the European Union. In June 2001 in Göthenburg, the European Council met to discuss the European Commission’s “A sustainable Europe for a better world: a European strategy for sustainable development.” Later that year the European Council issued the “European Sustainable Development Strategy 2001.” Public consultation on the strategy began in 2004. In 2004 the Commission began a review of the strategy and in 2005 the Commission adopted a Declaration on the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Development. <http://ec.europa.eu/sustainable/sds2001/index_en.htm> The Commission subsequently prepared a proposal for a renewed European Sustainable Development Strategy 2005-2010. The Communication was sent to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament where it was discussed in several relevant committees. The Strategy 2005-2010 was then adopted by the European Council in June 2006 and entered into force immediately.
In 2002 the Greek government developed a National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD). It is a mainstream national environmental program, in the sense that it adopts norms of international environmental law (i.e., the Precautionary Principle, the Polluter Pays Principle, and the Equity and Shared Responsibility Principle). In it, Greece announces that it seeks to reduce population pressures on the environment, namely: to abate climate change in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol by diversifying energy sources and conserving energy; to reduce air pollutants by diversifying energy sources and taking “measures” in the transportation, building and industrial sectors; to reduce solid waste in accordance with the EU 6th Environment Action Programme, by recycling, exploitation of domestic wastes, management of industrial and hazardous wastes; to manage water resources through an integrated approach, and through decentralizing water management, upgrading and expanding infrastructure; to abate desertification through protection of forests and water resources, by protection of agricultural land and grassland from intensive use; to protect biodiversity and natural ecosystems; and to use forests sustainably. They also plan action and measures to increase “social solidarity,” by raising participation in the labor market, by enhancing employment opportunities for both genders, by ensuring access to public goods, by training the work force for modern needs, and by protecting vulnerable population groups. They plan to integrate sectoral policies to maximize social benefits, by: regional development, physical development and urban planning, through administrative reform, multi-centered urban structure and metropolitan centers, reduction of urban sprawl through peri-urban developments of low density, and the radical restructuring of urban centers’ governance; by development of citizen participation; by developing and diversifying the energy sector and transportation sectors; and more. To achieve these goals they plan to make use of horizontal instruments such as economic instruments (getting prices right), information dissemination, and institutional, administrative and other measures.
Another important piece of the European sustainability landscape is the Natura 2000 network (see sidebar), which is closely related to two centerpieces of EU environmental law, the “Habitats Directive” and the “Birds Directive” of the European Council (see sidebars). Greece began implementing Natura 2000 with the project “Inventory, Identification, Evaluation and Mapping of the Habitat types and Flora and Fauna species in Hellas (Directive 92/43/EEC),” executed by the Goulandris Natural History Museum through the Hellenic Biotope/Wetland Centre (EKBY), in co-operation with the Schools of Biology at the Universities of Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras between 1/6/1994 and 31/3/1996. <http://www.minenv.gr/1/12/121/12103/e1210317.html > Greece is continuing to implement Natura 2000 through the Action Program “Management and Protection of Biodiversity,” in which it is monitoring, protecting and managing flora and fauna, in part through natural conservation areas comprising 15% of the land area of the country and 5% of the total coastal area. <http://www.minenv.gr/1/11/113/11301/e1130103.html >
The “National Action Plan for the Abatement of CO2 and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2000-2010” opines that the largest contributions of renewable energy are likely to be wind and solar, citing the abundant wind and sun of the Aegean islands; along with biomass for district heating and electricity generation from small hydro installations. In 2006 Greece set up a Council for National Energy Strategy, with the intent of providing a means for a more effective, coherent and coordinated framework for national energy policy-making and strategic planning. In 2005 under Directive 2003/87/EC the EU emissions trading program began operating. Greece launched their National Registry in April 2006. By June 30, 2006 a total of 144 installations were granted emissions rights. Greece then removed all previously allocated allowances and was now in “full implementation” of the EC Directive. In 2006 Greece implemented EU Directive 2001/77, promoting renewable energy sources (RES) of electricity, with a law that set a goal of 20.1% for the production of RES by 2010. Keep in mind that in the US, currently 2% of electricity comes from renewables. They also passed a law improving authorization and permitting procedures regarding the production of power by RES. It is estimated that the total output of wind parks will exceed 1281 MW by 2010 and 1670 MW by 2015. Greece ranks at the top of EU members regarding their use of solar water heaters, with a total surface of installed solar collectors amounting to 3.14 million square meters in 2003. They have a goal of 4.5 million square meters for 2010. To reach this goal they might implement tax credits. Photovoltaic systems remain important only in isolated areas. Biomass is also used for steam production, and geothermal is used for non-electric applications.
Non-Governmental Actions
One of the most visible of the sustainability-related controversies in Greece involves the island of my mother’s ancestors, Zakynthos or Zante (Many places in Greece have two names, the result of the numerous occupiers and sovereigns. Place names ending in “nthos” are particularly ancient, and probably pre-Greek or Pelasgian.). The sea turtle Caretta caretta nests on the beaches of Laganas Bay. These beaches are being developed, that is, covered with concrete and parking lots and waste effluent. In 2002, after eight years of annual complaints by the Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtle (MEDASSET), the European Council filed a case against Greece in the European Court of Justice, for failure to fulfill obligations under the Council Directive 92/43/EEC 21st May 1992, on the Conservation of European Wildlife & Natural Habitats (Habitat Directive). In 2003 an EC delegation consisting of all Greek Nations visited the site and reported substantial compliance with the Habitat Directive; however a subsequent visit by a (perhaps more impartial) European Parliament Petition Committee reported the opposite. In 2006 the Zakynthos National Marine Plan President convinced the EC Director General of Environment to close the case against Greece, and in 2007 the case was closed. MEDASSET reports that management of the area has improved, except that the violations at one beach (Daphne) continue.
Marine pollution is dealt with in Greece through national and international organizations. National NGO’s include the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMPA) and Clean-up Greece increase awareness and educate the public. The latter sponsors the Eco Art Festival, in which (they assert) “environment, art and culture unite in an unbreakable way”; corporate social responsibility program; tree planting; a youth conference; and more. International organizations include the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development, a federation of more than 100 non-profit and NGO’s. In addition, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has organized efforts by local member States against marine pollution in the Mediterranean since 1975, through the Marine Action Plan (UNEP/MAP). In January 2008 at the 15th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean and its Protocols (Almeria, 15-18 January 2008), three NGO’s launched a campaign, “Public Awareness for the Management of Marine Litter in the Mediterranean,” in which they distributed a poster/brochure and a booklet. The three NGO’s are Clean-Up Greece, the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association - HELMEPA and the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE), and MED POL, the Mediterranean Pollution Assessment and Control Programme of UNEP/MAP.
For more information, visit:
<http://ec.europa.eu/sustainable/sds2001/review2005_en.htm> <http://ec.europa.eu/sustainable/welcome/index_en.htm >
<http://www.minenv.gr/4/41/e4100.html>
<http://www.medasset.org/medas.htm >
<http://www.cleanupgreece.org.gr>
<http://www.mio-ecsde.org >
<www.helmepa.gr >
<http://www.unepmap.org >
NATURA -
“In May 1992 European Union governments adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the Habitats Directive and complements the Birds Directive adopted in 1979. At the heart of both these Directives is the creation of a network of sites called Natura 2000. The Birds Directive requires the establishment of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for birds. The Habitats Directive similarly requires Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to be designated for other species, and for habitats. Together, SPAs and SACs make up the Natura 2000 series.” <http://www.natura.org/about.html >
THE HABITATS DIRECTIVE -
“The Habitats Directive (together with the Birds Directive) forms the cornerstone of Europe’s nature conservation policy. It is built around two pillars: the Natura 2000 network of protected sites and the strict system of species protection. All in all the directive protects over 1.000 animals and plant species and over 200 so called “habitat types” (e.g. special types of forests, meadows, wetlands, etc.), which are of European importance.”<http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/habitatsdirective/index_en.htm>
THE BIRDS DIRECTIVE -
“Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds, commonly referred to as the Birds Directive, is the EU’s oldest piece of nature legislation and one of the most important, creating a comprehensive scheme of protection for all wild bird species naturally occurring in the Union. Its was adopted unanimously by the Members States in 1979 as a response to increasing concern about the declines in Europe’s wild bird populations resulting from pollution, loss of habitats as well as unsustainable use. It was also in recognition that wild birds, many of which are migratory, are a shared heritage of the Member States and that their effective conservation required international co-operation. The directive recognises that habitat loss and degradation are the most serious threats to the conservation of wild birds. It therefore places great emphasis on the protection of habitats for endangered as well as migratory species (listed in Annex I), especially through the establishment of a coherent network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) comprising all the most suitable territories for these species. Since 1994 all SPAs form an integral part of the NATURA 2000 ecological network.”
“The Birds Directive bans activities that directly threaten birds, such as the deliberate killing or capture of birds, the destruction of their nests and taking of their eggs, and associated activities such as trading in live or dead birds, with a few exceptions (listed in Annex III - III/1 allows taking in all Member States; III/2 allows taking in Member States in agreement with European Commission). The Directive recognises hunting as a legitimate activity and provides a comprehensive system for the management of hunting (limited to species listed in Annex II - II/1 allows hunting in all Member States; II/2 allows hunting in listed Member States ) to ensure that this practice is sustainable. This includes a requirement to ensure that birds are not hunted during the periods of their greatest vulnerability, such as the return migration to the nesting areas, reproduction and the raising of chicks. It requires Member States to outlaw all forms of non-selective and large scale killing of birds, (especially the methods listed in Annex IV). It promotes research to underpin the protection, management and use of all species of birds covered by the Directive (Annex V).” <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/birdsdirective/index_en.htm >
Copyright 2009 Yorgos Marinakis and the Journal of Sustainability