SHOP GREEN LIGHT FOR WALL PARTS

A countdown begins on Monday to announce the maritime parks in the Ionian and South Aegean, with the government oriented to present them before the landmark of the United Nations Conference on Oceans (9-13/6) in Nice, France, where the first day is expected.

The critical meetings on the matter between the relevant Ministries and the Maximus Grand were completed, with the prime minister finally lighting the green light to immediately settle any technical issues that Greece is able to post maritime parks in public consultation, before he departed.

Since some issues (which concern decisions about the particular characteristics of each park) are resolved at a meeting planned to take place tomorrow with the participation of the relevant scholars, the government will now have complete maritime parks in its hands, which had announced in the spring of 2024 in the context of the OCE.

Although the study of the South Aegean Park is judged more mature than the Ionian Sea, the logic of the government is reportedly to announce both parks at the same time, with any necessary interventions to be transferred to the « constructive period » of the public consultation.

With the Nice Conference essentially functioning as a catalyst for the announcement of parks, Greece’s main objective is to arise areas of protection in the Ionian and Southern Aegean where the competent bodies can then monitor that everything operates on the basis of the rules that have been raised and where they can be imposed.

According to competent sources, this « exercise », in terms of successful completion of both parks, is « quite complex », with the project’s functionality criteria summarized in the phrase « substantial management and control ».

In the case of the South Aegean, the difficulty lies more on management issues arising from the « fragmentation » of the park in order to « fit » the areas of protection within our territorial waters and can, at the same time, be « effective management ».

As for whether it will eventually join the park and southern part of Amorgos from the outset, this remains to be decided in time by the study team.

In the Ionian Park, the point is to clarify issues related to land uses, after the addition – as they had revealed « TA NEWS » (10/5) – and coastal parts of the mainland (Kyparissiakos Gulf, Mani, etc.) in the protected areas, Seagulls and marine mammals.

Given, however, it should be considered the expansion of both parks to the original plan, with the Ionian park now reaching 20,000 square kilometers and the park in the southern Aegean exceeding 8,000 square kilometers.

In terms of the form of the two parks, the Ionian parks will be characterized more than a « continuation » of maritime protection departments, while the South Aegean will refer to « fragmented » protection zones including islands, islands, islands, some inhabited islands (Folegandros).

If the tight timetables are observed so that the Prime Minister can, based on planning, to promote the two maritime parks in his intervention at the forthcoming Nice Conference, Greece will have another commitment after the submission of maritime planning – such as a maritime planning planning – Turkey’s reactions, which, in this case, and as the Greek Foreign Ministry has pointed out regarding the Park in the Southern Aegean, « politicizes a purely environmental issue ».

Regardless, however, from the final form that the two parks will take after the incorporation of the observations that will arise from the consultation, it is certain that Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his next meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, either on the sidelines of his 24th Thers »in Ankara, will undoubtedly have the two maritime parks in the Ionian and southern Aegean.