PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Trichonis lake is the largest lake in Greece with a surface area of 9690 ha, and whose water basin covers a surface of 39 900 ha. It is located in central-western Greece, at an average altitude of 16 meters above sea level and with a maximum depth of 57 meters. It is surrounded by agricultural land with cultivations of tobacco, cotton, olive trees, and fruit trees. About 20 seasonal streams discharge in the lake, which is connected through an artificial channel with the neighbouring lake Lysimachia (water flows from Trichonis to Lysimacheia). The calcareous fens with Cladium mariscus, an endangered and priority habitat type at Community level, can be found in the southern part of Trichonis lake. In fact, this lake used to host the largest proportion of calcareous fens at national level, which has a very limited distribution at national level. Trichonis lake has a relatively small drainage basin and for that reason its water level exhibits strong seasonal fluctuations (seasonal water demand for irrigation purposes is very high). This is one of the main factors threatening the conservation of the calcareous fens. Other important threats are water quality degradation (also related to agricultural activities), competition with reedbeds, illegal expansion of the surrounding agricultural lands and the limited knowledge on behalf of the public and the local stakeholders concerning the importance of the habitat. Initially, the beneficiary considered shore erosion as an important threat for the habitat, but the presence of reedbeds on the shore has eliminated this threat. This LIFE-Nature project is the very first organised nature conservation effort in the area.
OBJECTIVES
The project aims at the rehabilitation of the calcareous fens to a favourable conservation status, either through direct actions on the specific habitat type, or through more general actions on the entire lake. The expected results are:
Protect the habitat from drying, by stabilising the water level. Ensure the Trichonis lake water quality. Protect the lake’s shore from erosion (this threat proved to be non-relevant, and this objective was dropped). Ensure the protection of the habitat type from expanding agricultural activities. Increase public awareness. Stimulate environmental concerns of the communes and other competent authorities and their active participation in the conservation of the targeted habitat. The stabilisation of the lake’s water level will be achieved through the monitoring and control of the water level, based on a water management plan. For the reduction of water pollution levels, the project foresees the pilot control of urban and rural wastes, through the collection of solid wastes, the installation of an automatic water quality monitoring station and the increase of public awareness concerning the disposal of wastes and the use of fertilisers, while for the minimisation of the lake shore erosion the project had planned to develop artificial reed embankments (action cancelled). In order to protect the fens from the expansion of agricultural lands, the project has foreseen the mapping of the habitat’s boundaries and their fencing. In addition, it plans to rehabilitate the habitat through the planting of Cladium mariscus and Carex sp., once the water level is stabilised, and through reedbed management. All the aforementioned actions are to be accompanied by a public awareness campaign on the value of the Calcareous fens targeting farmers, the local population, visitors and schoolchildren.
RESULTS
The project successfully managed to encourage the very first discussions about the degradation of the natural environment, to create a local awareness concerning the importance of the targeted habitat type and of the environmental parameters that affect it (water pollution, water level stabilisation), to actively involve certain groups in conservation actions, to promote the notions of alternative tourism and financial benefits that may derive from nature conservation, and to implement exemplary conservation actions. The project also managed to raise awareness and involve local authorities in conservation issues, such as two municipalities and local authorities involved in water management issues. Indeed, one municipality will continue the work with the information centre and the water monitoring activities after the project ends while the other one has committed itself to protect the calcareous fens from further degradation. As for local authorities, the Land Reclamation Service of Agrinio responsible for the management of the water regulation infrastructure (which implemented the water management plan during the project) has committed itself in carrying on the implemention of the plan after the project’s end. A second overall conclusion is that the project achieved its main objective, which was the restoration and conservation of the habitat. The project managed to guarantee the protection of the entire habitat located in public land through its delineation with pegs, which, according to the beneficiary, proved to deter expansion of agricultural activities and trespassing. Also the project implemented rehabilitation actions in about 35% of the habitat located in public land (or about 31% of the entire habitat regardless of property status). The ecological conditions of the targeted habitat significantly improved thanks to the securing of higher water levels (this is the most important parameter for the conservation of the habitat and its functions), the removal of waste that affected the habitat, the light management of reeds and the planting of characteristic species of the habitat, namely Cladium mariscus, and the control of the expansion of agricultural fields. Overall, the project run without major surprises or obstacles to the implementation of the actions, with one important exception: the location and surface of the calcareous fens identified through the preparatory field work at the outset of the project revealed that there were significant differences with what was originally "known" concerning the status and coverage of calcareous fens in Trichonis lake, which was supposed to host the most important surface of the habitat at national level. The project showed that the remaining surface of the habitat type is only around 18% of the surface it was considered to cover with respect to the data available in the Natura 2000 Standard Data Form in 1999. An additional complicating factor is that a part of this land (about 1.9 ha out of the 17.4 ha) was proven to be private or trespassed (agricultural land, with poor productivity due to high water levels in the soil); the beneficiary had absolutely no means to intervene in those areas, and his efforts with respect to the land owners/trespassers were limited to public awareness activities, while the restoration works were limited to public land. ACHIEVEMENT OF EXPECTED RESULTS
Protection of habitat against the drying up of the lake: The major means of achieving this key objective was the stabilisation of the lake’s water level, which used to fluctuate significantly by approximately one meter each year based on seasonal water demand for irrigation purposes. The beneficiary elaborated a water management plan, which took into account ecological as well as social factors, and presented 6 different scenarios. The major challenge of the project was for the beneficiary to manage and bring together all the local competent authorities involved in the Trichonis lake water management (they are 4 such authorities plus 5 local municipalities), and a) to convince them on the need to have a water management strategy, and b) to make them select unanimously the most appropriate water management scenario, which would be a compromise between irrigation needs and the habitat’s needs. NCMR and its partners managed to do that, and the selected water management plan scenario started being implemented as of 7/2002 (scenario 3: reduction of annual water level change by 50%, coverage of 80% of irrigation needs, and provision of remaining 20% by neighbouring reservoirs of the "Public Power Corporation" in Acheloos river). As a result, water level fluctuation decreased by 50% in 2002 and 2003 compared to previous years. Protection of habitat from expanding agricultural activities: The delineation and fencing of the habitat in public land, as well as the consciousness-raising in target groups (mainly farmers and livestock owners) were the means used to achieve this objective. The beneficiary also worked closely with the local municipality of Makryneia which hosts the largest proportion of calcareous fens in order to warn them off expanding agricultural activities. In the short-term, these measures can guarantee the habitat’s surface, and is all the beneficiary can do considering that it is not the competent authority. Increase of public awareness: The project took this task very seriously from the very beginning. It is important to remember that this LIFE-Nature project is the very first co-ordinated nature conservation effort in the area, which is largely an agricultural area. The beneficiary therefore had to start the work from scratch. The high quality and target-specific communication material produced, the media work, the door-to-door campaign and the presentations targeted almost exclusively local interest groups (farmers, livestock owners, fishermen, schoolchildren). The communication campaign with the local mass media was also quite extensive. The creation and operation of the Environmental Centre in the area was very much appreciated by the local community, which now starts to see the potential benefits of the centre in terms of attraction of visitors. The project also organised numerous events and created a quite innovative and interesting project in order to involve children in nature conservation, called "Adopt and learn". Finally, it should be noted that the beneficiary also created a very interesting and informative website. Stimulation of the communes’ and the other competent authorities’ concern and active participation in the conservation of the targeted habitat: The competent authorities were a target group that received particular attention from the beneficiary and its two partners. Contacts with the municipalities and the other authorities involved in the lake’s water management were continuous throughout the project. The beneficiary set the precedent in the area, as it brought together the competent authorities (see also under "Protection of habitat from drying"), and forced them to take together a decision concerning the water management plan. At least two of the municipalities (the one hosting the Environmental Centre, and the one hosting the calcareous fens) have also been actively involved in some of the conservation actions, and have committed themselves to pursuing concrete activities after the project’s end.
