A decision by the Environment and Public Works Ministry to declare the area around Lake Vistonida, in northern Greece, a protected zone includes a loophole that will facilitate industrial development in precious wetlands in the broader region, academics have told Kathimerini.

According to Lazaros Vassileiadis, a professor at the Democritus University of Thrace, most at risk is the Vasova Lagoon, near Kavala, protected under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation of wetlands. “The pressure has begun for the installation of fuel tanks in the Vasova area,” Vassileiadis said. “We do not want our region to become an energy hub,” he explained, adding that residents were planning protests.

Development in the area would destroy the lagoon and pose a threat to the entire Kavala Gulf, locals say. “We don’t want our area to become Elefsina Bay,” said Dinos Antoniadis, the president of the regional technical chamber.