**Abstract**

Greece has today about 400 large and small wetlands. Some of them are international importance and some are considered as national importance. Several of them are composite and form wetland mosaics or complexes. The most common wetland types in Greece are: rivers, estuaries, deltas, lagoons, shallow lakes, shallow marine formations, marshes. Their total area is still quite large (210,000 ha) in spite of the heavy losses that occurred during the last two generations Threats of degradation are drainage, dam construction, irrigation networks, alteration in river morphology such as diversion flow, clearing of natural vegetation which alter hydrological regime and affect wetland function. Sustainable agriculture in the hydrological basins of important wetlands should be considered because these systems are threaten most.

**Keywords:** Wetlands Greece, agriculture, management, legislation

### **1. Introduction**

Greece historic route, is depicted in wetland landscape. Since antiquity detailed description of the reedbeds of lake Copais is included in the botanical work 'Enquiry into plants' (IV:10–12) of Theophrastus from the 4th century BCE. Related flora and fauna are entailed in works on natural science of Theophrastus ('Enquiry into plants', 'On the causes of plants'), Aristotle ('History of animals', 'Parts of animals', "On the generation of animals"), Dioscorides ('On medical matters') [1]. First settlements were established along rivers and around lakes taking advantage of good grazing conditions and naturally irrigated land.

Contemporary history major social economic events, wars, economic crisis, have put a fingerprint in wetland landscape. For thousand year people ignored the diverse function that wetland perform and also put on them the label of malaria Farmers were interest in wetland trying to drain them for crops and to prevent flooding and to abstract irrigation water. Greece socioeconomic history is linked with wetland status After 1920, a rapid increase area loss was observed for example the Greek state implements a large scale land reclamation projects in the plain of Serres town. This coincides with the fact that period 1928 to 1936, was a great refugee problem that followed the Greco-Turkish War in 1922. Another example Lake Karla, Greece, was almost completely drained in 1962 both to protect surrounding farmlands from flooding and to increase agricultural area. The reclamation did not attribute the expected benefits [2]. Loss of wetland functions and values resulted in environmental, social, and economic problems [3]. An estimated loss 63% in original wetland area in Greece has been occurred over the twentieth century.

Large deltaic areas were shrinked with coastal erosion phenomena. These are attributed to hydrology modification due to dam construction [4].

A"first approximation" of National Wetlands Inventory was published in 1994, including a list of 400 wetlands, with inventory data on 271 of them by the Greek Biotope/Wetland Centre (E.K.V.Y) with the contribution of the former Greek Ministry for the Environment, Spatial Planning, and Public Works in 1994. Main focus of the original Inventory was the continental wetlands. Northern Greece (Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki, Kentriki and Dytiki Makedonia and Thessalia) there are 118 wetlands, or 31% of the total number. The rest of the continental Greece (Ipeiros, Dytiki Ellada, Sterea Ellada, Peloponnisos and Attiki) contains 151 (40%), while 109 (29%) are in the islands and Crete (Ionia Nisia, Nisia Voreio Aigaio, Nisia Notio Aigaio and Kriti). As regards area or length, Northern Greece contains 48% (97479 ha) of the total wetland area and 56% (2389 km) of the total length of linear wetlands (e.g. rivers). The corresponding figures are, for the rest of continental Greece, 48% (97608 ha) and 37% (1588 km), and for the islands and Crete 4% (7530 ha) and 7% (294 km) [5].

However the morphology of Greece is unique with 6000 scattered islands and islets with a wealth of wetlands. Small wetlands which are spreading through the territory have received little attention and are not in the focus of conservation Nevertheless it is argued that play an important role in the maintenance of species biodiversity. Any loss reduces connectivity among species populations. Inadequate legal protection threatens its existence.

In an effort to fill this gap, in 2004 WWF Greece launched the "Conservation of Aegean Island Wetlands" project, striving to document the state of Greek island wetlands, highlight their importance and draw attention to whatever is needed for their preservation. The outcome of the project was the documentation and delineation of 824 natural and artificial wetlands (>0.1 ha) in 76 islands of Greece (100 on 8 Ionian Islands, 520 on 65 Aegean islands and 204 on Crete and 2 satellite Islands) have been documented and delineated. Of them, 602 are natural wetlands and 222 are artificial [6, 7]. Special issue needs to be mentioned is a priority freshwater habitat in Mediterranean the Mediterranean Temporary Pond (MTP) is a priority freshwater habitat type (3170\*, NATURA 2000), that is mainly encountered in Mediterranean type arid and semi-arid climates. They are characterized by their ephemeral nature of their wet phase and the absence of any link with permanent aquatic body making them vulnerable to climate change. In Greece the MTP sites which are coincided in 18 Natura sites are concentrated in the southeastern part of the country [8].

Some of wetlands are international importance some are considered as European and national importance. Several of them are composite and form wetland mosaics or complexes. Ten Sites are designated as wetland of international importance as Ramsar sites with a surface area of 163,501 hectares varying size from 5,078 ha in lake Mikri Prespa to 33,687 ha in Messolonghi lagoons Greece the usual case is that the Natura 2000 site is much larger (average size 11,275 Ha) and engulfs the Ramsar site. A characteristic example of this relation between the two is the case of the lakes Kerkini and Mikri Prespa: the Ramsar boundaries are restricted to the water body whereas the relevant proposed Sites of Community Importance are large enough to include large part of the surrounding catchment area as well [6].

The most common wetland types in Greece are: rivers estuaries, deltas, lagoons, shallow lakes, shallow marine formations, marshes, springs, reservoirs. Their total area is still quite large (210,000 ha) in spite of the heavy losses that occurred during the last two generations [9]. Wetlands accordingly to their hydrology patterns are classified as precipitation dominated, groundwater fed and surface water dominated. With the exception of lake Mikri Prespa, which is not connected to a

*Management and Sustainability of Greek Wetlands DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100003*

**Figure 1.** *Ramsar sites in Greece [10].*

major river basin, all the others have been proposed as representative examples of wetlands which play a substantial hydrological, biological or ecological role in the natural functioning of a major river basin or coastal system (**Figure 1**).

Nowadays threats of degradation are drainage, dam construction, irrigation networks, alteration in river morphology such as confinement of river beds, building embarkments, clearing of natural vegetation which alter hydrological regime and affect wetland function. Biodiversity governance is a continuous battle towards sustainable management in Greek wetlands despite the continuous threats.
