River and Wetland Restoration in Greece: Lessons from Biodiversity Conservation Initiatives

Abstract

Rivers in Greece have seen extensive human-induced degradation, and there are increasing demands on the goods and services they provide along with increasing threats from future anthropogenic pressures. These multi-scale alterations to rivers and associated wetlands and riparian zones have severely impacted biodiversity. The Greek government has responded by creating various new protected areas and promoting interest in conservation, while attention to monitoring waters has increased with the implementation of the EU WFD. Unfortunately, bioassessment-based monitoring, long-term conservation programmes and restoration actions in rivers have lagged behind other EU countries. Here we outline the state of river and wetland restoration progress; we describe key restoration examples and discuss shortcomings, pitfalls and opportunities in various aspects of restoration.