Divers Discover Seabed Pollution in Greece's Alonissos Marine Park

Marine Pollution in Alonissos

• 🌊 Volunteer divers in Alonissos, Greece, a popular tourist spot and home to Europe's largest protected marine park, discovered plastic bottles, tires, and rusted debris on the seabed.
• 💡 This cleanup effort, organized by the Greece-based agency Alonissos Rebreath, highlights a civil society movement addressing marine pollution in the Mediterranean.
• 🎯 The divers focused on areas with high tourist, fishing, and general activity, finding the most pollution in the main port.

Alonissos Marine Park Biodiversity

• 🐠 Established in the early 1990s, the Alonissos Marine Park is a sanctuary for one of the world's last remaining colonies of monk seals, along with 300 fish species, dolphins, and sea turtles.
• 🗣️ The park's existence has raised awareness among locals and tourists about the dangers of marine pollution.

Greece's Commitment to Marine Protection

• 🏛️ To safeguard its coastal biodiversity, Greece plans to establish two new marine parks in the Aegean and Ionian seas as part of a larger initiative worth 780 million euros.
• 📈 Greece aims to expand its marine protected areas to cover 30% of its territorial waters by 2030.
• 🌍 Theodora Francis, one of the divers, suggests that Alonissos can serve as a model for protecting seas, emphasizing the importance of local communities taking care of their environment.