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A new scientific study reveals the serious threats facing marine mammals due to oil and gas extraction activities near Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Mediterranean, including Greece.

The signing of the Presidential Decree formally ensures the permanent protection of the Marine Protected Area

On April 7, 2026, 13 environmental organizations submitted an official letter to the Ministry of Environment and Energy regarding the Aegean and Ionian marine parks. The aim of the letter was to speed up the process of establishing the two parks, in accordance with the government’s announcements and European commitments.

Given the recent developments regarding potential offshore gas exploration west of Corfu and further South of the Ionian Sea, we believe it is important to reflect on how such activities may intersect with the areas and communities where we work.

Every year, tens of thousands of seabirds find death along the French coast as a result of becoming entangled in fishing gear.

Discarded fishing gear and marine plastic pollution remain among the most persistent threats to Mediterranean coastal ecosystems, contributing to ghost fishing, habitat degradation and long-term microplastic accumulation.

The iSea team celebrated 10 years of action with a week full of informative events and clean-ups for the people of Thessaloniki!

Key points from WWF’s statement at the stakeholder hearing in the Parliament

Following the Greek Parliament’s approval of the four contracts with Chevron and HelleniQ Energy on March 12, Mr. Papastavrou presented 10+1 reasons why he believes Greek citizens should welcome these developments. Greenpeace Greece responds with 10+1 reasons why hydrocarbon extraction is politically, socially, and environmentally detrimental to the country, and calls for the cancellation of these plans at the earliest opportunity.

Over the past two decades, seaweed blooms have increased by 13.4% annually in the tropical Atlantic and western Pacific, with the most dramatic increases occurring after 2008.

World Whale Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of February and was originally created in Hawaii to honor the region’s humpback whales. Over the past 40 years, it has evolved into an international day to celebrate all whales and raise public awareness of the dangers they face.

In April 2026, at the French Institute of Athens, the Greek Islands Seagrass Alliance (GISA) is organising the first Greek Seagrass Forum.

The narrative that Greece can become an LNG hub is based mainly on circumstances rather than on solid economic or energy conditions. Therefore, the environmental organizations Hellenic Ornithological Society, Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, Greenpeace, MEDASSET, and WWF Greece express their strong concern about the following:

According to a recent study, 33% of the ocean recorded temperatures that ranked among the three highest in history (1958-2025), while 57% recorded the five highest values

For the 37th year in succession, MEDASSET participated in the 45th Standing Committee Meeting of the Bern Convention]. The results of our sea turtle nesting beach surveys were presented and the progress of implementation of the Convention’s Recommendations was reported.

The distance traveled by Castello from Greece to Spain is estimated at approximately 2,100 kilometers (as the crow flies) and is the longest distance recorded for a rehabilitated turtle from ARCHELON’s Rescue Centre.

Since 2012, the Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas) has provided a nuanced perspective on global marine protection

With the passing of 120 days since its ratification, the Global Ocean Treaty officially came into force on January 17, 2026, allowing us to celebrate the results of two decades of relentless campaigning to protect the sea, home to millions of species and vital ecosystems.

“It is possible that one of these events could be the tipping point from which there is no return. And that matters. For the carbon absorbed by the sea, the fish we eat, and the future of marine ecosystems.”- Benoit-Bird.

Environmental NGOs client earth and oceana took the legal route against the spanish government, claiming that the continuing issuing of new fishing licences for bottom trawling within marine protected areas contradicts the country’s national and international commitments for ocean protection.

The documentary “LIFE MareNatura – Protecting Marine Life in a Changing World” enjoyed a highly successful world premiere on November 13 at the French Institute of Greece, as part of the Science Festival themed “The Voice of the Ocean.”

“For centuries, humans have drawn a line between themselves and other species, initially claiming that other animals couldn’t feel pain. Science proved they could. Then the argument shifted: Animals lacked consciousness or the ability to think in complex ways. That, too, fell apart under mounting evidence. Now, a final frontier is language—the belief that only humans possess it.”

Facilitating a space wherein communities can shape policies and decisions about their land, ocean, values, practices, and livelihood should be the norm. We are able to witness a powerful example of that through this work on the Chagos marine protected area.”

“We tend to imagine tipping points as single moments, dramatic and visible. In reality, they unfold quietly until it is too late to reverse them. A coral reef does not explode when it dies. It fades…It is the gradualness that makes it so dangerous. You can convince yourself nothing is happening until everything has changed.”

«No conservation or development initiative is legitimate without meaningful stakeholder consultation and the free, prior and informed consent of affected communities».

The first CPF Fishers’ Forum 2025, themed “Empowering the voice of small-scale coastal fishers,” was held on Thursday, November 27, and Friday, November 28, in Piraeus, organized by the Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF) and supported by the Blue Marine Foundation (BMF), as part of the Cycladorama initiative, which aims to empower and network the coastal fishing communities of the islands towards a more sustainable direction, with a focus on the Cyclades.

“The destruction of the rainforest happens in plain sight. But bottom trawling – a practice in which heavy fishing nets are dragged across the ocean floor, dredging up carbon that’s long been stored in the seabed – is a kind of deforestation beneath the waves”, by Enric Sala.

Kenya takes center stage in international negotiations on marine protection, hosting the next Our Ocean Conference 2026.

The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature participates in the NaTour4CChange project, as part of Mission 4 – “Enhancing Sustainable Tourism” of the European Interreg Euro-MED Program.

According to the published research, about 1/3 of ecological programs are abandoned a few years after their launch, undermining ecological efforts, as recovery of the natural landscape can take decades to become apparent.

Portugal appears to be reaching the 30X30 target by 2026, with the announcement of a new Marine Protected Area.

Just days before the start of the COP30 international climate conference in Brazil, the government triumphantly announced agreements with oil giants for hydrocarbon extraction in the seas off Crete and the Ionian Islands, as well as a long-term commitment to import American liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 2030.

COP30, the global (with the participation of 198 countries) UN conference of the parties, is taking palce n Belem, Brazil.

The annual report of the ARCHELON Program for 2025 highlights the Kyparissia bay as an area of high importance for loggerhead sea turtles.

The initiative to establish two new marine parks is particularly important, as pointed out by environmental organizations Blue Marine Foundation, Cyclades Preservation Fund, Greenpeace, iSea, the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the Hellenic Ornithological Society, the Thalassa Foundation/AENAOS THALASSA, and WWF Greece.

From AMORGORAMA towards a roadmap to CYCLADORAMA

October 2025 On Friday, October 3, at the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, we will attend the Greek premiere of Ocean with David Attenborough and a

Following Greece’s commitments announced at the International Conference Our Ocean, the Special Environmental Studies for the two new National Marine Parks in the Southern Cyclades and the Ionian (National Marine Park of the Ionian and National Marine Park of the Southern Aegean 1 – Southern Cyclades) have been completed and have been put to public consultation from July 21, 2025 until September 22.

A new WWF report reveals that the EU is significantly behind on its goal to protect at least 30% of marine areas by 2030, with only 2.04% of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) currently having approved management plans.

The Observatory weseayou presents its first report for the monitoring of Greece’s progress on the protection of the marine environment!