2. The most interesting animal
species are:
Κρι-Κρι /Kri – Kri/
(Latin name: Carpa aegagrus
creticus)
It is a species that lives
only on the island of Crete
in Southern Greece. It has
light brown fur with a
darker stripe around the
neck. The male has large
horns that are directed
backwards. It is an
endangered species and
its hunting is strictly
prohibited.
It is considered an
endemic species of Crete.
3. Μαυρόγυπας
Black vulture
(Latin name: Aegypius monachus)
It is a bird of prey that
usually eats dead
animals. The National
Park of Dadia forest is
the only place in
Southeastern Europe
where the species
nests and reproduces.
It's a protected
species.
Μεσογειακή Φώκια
Mediterranean monk seal
(Latin name: monachus –
monachus).
It is an endangered seal species that lives
in the waters of the Mediterranean.
More than half the population of
monachus – monachus (300) lives and
reproduces in Greece. They grow up to
2.4 metres and weigh up to 300
kilograms. Their fur is brown or dark
grey. They live up to 45 years. Its
existence symbolises the health of the
sea as it can only live in clean, non-
polluted waters.
4. Νανόχηνα (Dwarf goose)
Latin: Anser erythropus
It is the rarest goose species in
Europe and is a globally
endangered species. Its
population has suffered a
dramatic decline due to loss of
habitat, lack of suitable
wintering sites and
overhunting. In Greece it is
mainly found in the Delta
Evros.
Το Χρυσό Τσακάλι (Golden Jackal)
Latin name: Canis aureus.
The Golden Jackal (Canis aureus)
is a wolf-like canid that is native
to Southeast Europe and it is the
smallest gray-wolf subspecies. It is
more related to the wolf and the
coyote than to other animals called
jackals. In Europe it is found
mainly on the Balkan Peninsula. It
is omnivorous and it feeds on
small mammals, insects and
reptiles as well as fruits and
plants.
5. Θαλάσσια χελώνα Καρέτα-καρέτα
Loggerhead sea turtle
Caretta-caretta
The loggerhead sea turtle or caretta-caretta lives in the Mediterranean
Sea and nests in Greece. It is about one metre long and weighs100
kilos. Its shell is red-brown, it has got lungs and breathes air. It lays its
eggs on land, on beaches on the island of Zakynthos, in Peloponnesus
and Crete. Each sea turtle lays about 120 eggs every two or three years
but there are many dangers for the baby turtles. Only one out of a
thousand baby sea turtles survive. Caretta Caretta goes back to the
same beach where she was born to lay her eggs and therefore it is of
huge importance to save the nests, otherwise the survival of the
species is at stake. From June till August, the females come out to
prepare the nests.
6. Rare plant species found at
the Dadia National Park
Minuartia greuteriana is found in
Northeastern Greece (Thraki),
close to the village of Dadia. It is
described as a species quite new
to science. It is an endemic
species.
Αγριομηλιά – Wild apple tree
–Eriolobus trilobatus
It is a rare species of wild apple
tree that grows at Dadia forest.
It is not very commonly spread.
7. Onosma kittanae Ιτιά της Ξάνθης –
Sallix xanthicola
It is an endemic species
that grows at Dadia
forest
It is a species located at the
Southeastern Balkan
Peninsula. It grows near small
rivers.
9. Forms of Nature Conservation In
Greece
There are 17 National Parks.
5 of them are Forest National Parks, like Dadia Forest
(60 Km far from our town).
10 of them are wetland National parks, like the Delta
Evros
(20 Km far from our town).
2 of them are Marine National Parks. The first one is a
protected area for the Mediteranean monk seal
monachus – monachus and the second one is a
protected area for the Loggerhead sea turtle careta –
careta.
There are even some areas that are not officially
National Parks but are protected areas specifically by
the Ramsar Convention or they have been declared
10. It is worth seeing in Greece:
VICOS GORGE
Vikos Gorge is located in the region of Epirus in the Northwestern
part of Greece near the town of Ioannina. It is about 11 km long and
its depth in some places exceeds 1000 m. It is the deepest gorge in
the world in relation to its width and height (according to the
Guinness Book of Records). The gorge is a refuge for a wide variety
of flora and fauna. It is a favorite destination for nature lovers while
in the waters of the river Voidomatis that runs through it one can do
extreme sports such as rafting and kayaking.
12. METEORA
The Meteora (“lifted") is a rock formation in
central Greece. Beside the Pindos Mountains and the Pinios
River, in the region of Thessaly, these unique and enormous
columns of rock rise from the ground. Their unusual form is not
easy to explain geologically. They are not volcanic plugs of hard
rock typical elsewhere, but the rocks are composed of a mixture
of sandstone and conglomerate. The rocks host one of the
largest and most steeply built complexes of Eastern
Orthodox monasteries.
13. “VATHRES”, SAMOTHRAKI ISLAND
The waterfalls and the famous “vathres”, the natural pools
formed among the light-colored rocks of Samothraki, the
island off our coast in the Northern Aegean Sea, are only a
small part of the magic and natural wealth of this island. The
gorge of Gria starts under the highest peak of Mount Saos.
14. GIOLA, THASSOS ISLAND
Giola is located on the southern part of the island of Thassos, in
Northeastern Greece. It is a magnificent natural swimming pool,
formed in the rocks next to the sea. Each wave of the sea slowly
renews the crystal clear water of the natural swimming pool. You
can bathe, dive from the "steps" that the rocks form and sunbathe
on the wide rocks that there are all around.
