Marine Habitat Mapping of the Greek Marine Protected Areas

The mapping of marine habitats in all marine protected areas (Natura 2000) of Greece constitutes a very important tool for the adoption of appropriate measures for their protection and restoration, and the drafting of the marine spatial planning. Important marine habitats in this country, as are the Posidonia meadows, reefs and rhodolith sea beds are not mapped fully or at all, a fact which has been obstructing their essential and effective protection from significant pressures and threats related to human activities such as fisheries, mooring, mining activities, etc. Their mapping constitutes the first and highly important  step for  the essential protection and restoration of the degraded habitats in order to ensure the health of marine ecosystems and the sustainable development of marine activities.