Greece’s Limnes Vistonis Wetlands Highlighted by Copernicus

On Monday, Europe’s Copernicus Sentinel program released satellite imagery of Limnes Vistonis, an important wetland complex in Greece, captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 26 October 2024.

Limnes Vistonis covers an area of over 18,000 hectares, and the protected site encompasses a variety of habitats, including extensive reedbeds, Tamarix scrubs (among the largest in Greece), salt marshes, dunes, and areas of agricultural cultivation. ‘Limnes’ means ‘lakes’ in Greek.

As a Natura 2000 site, the area is an important habitat for 144 species of waterbirds and raptors, serving as a breeding ground and a stopover site during migration, as well as a wintering habitat.

Copernicus Sentinel satellites help monitor important ecosystems around the world, and ensure that their wildlife and unique environmental characteristics are well preserved.

An undated report on the environmental health of the area, conducted by the University of Athens, notes that the “site is seriously threatened by drainage in the eastern and northern part of Vistonis, and water pollution from agricultural and domestic sources and at a lesser extent from industrial sources. The wetland is also threatened by agricultural and urban expansion, infrastructure developments, construction of summer houses, excessive water abstraction and hunting. The destruction of wetland habitats with the richness and diversity described, had also a very serious impact on the raptor fauna of the bordering areas to the north of the wetlands.”

Moreover, “the importance of the site as a wintering area for waterfowl is threatened by hunting and by the existing management by the Fisheries Cooperations. Vistonis along with Mitrikou lake and other lagoons have been adversely affected by pollution from agricultural and domestic sources and at a lesser extent from industrial sources as well as from urban development. Wet meadows and riparian wood around lake Vistonis and Mitrikou are seriously threatened by reclamation plans and illegal logging. Water scarcity worsens the situation.”