Project puts wetland at risk
Conservationists are warning that plans by the Environment and Public Works Ministry to redirect the Erasinos River in the Mesogeia region of eastern Attica and boost its banks with anti-flood works would lead to the destruction of the Vravrona wetland, part of the European Union’s protected Natura network. The Hellenic Ornithological Society has lodged an appeal with the Council of State, complaining that the planned project would ruin a unique natural habitat that is home to 20 different mammals and fish – including four that are endangered – and 176 bird species. According to the society, the works would involve the construction of a 850-meter aqueduct. «The aqueduct would occupy one-third of the wetland,» spokesperson Malamo Korbeti told Kathimerini. She said the project was the outcome of inadequate anti-flood measures in the greater Attica area.
