Michalis Probonas, Asterousia Mountain Range: MAB & NewLife4Drylands Project, Greece Venice, 16-17 December 2021 Overall responsibility for the views and opinions expressed in the slides is taken by the authors

1. Dr. Michalis Probonas
Ecology & Environmental
Management Laboratory,
UoC – NHMC
MAB-IHP Regional Symposium: Managing Water
Resources in Biosphere Reserves in South East Europe
and the Mediterranean, 16-17 December 2021, Venice
Asterousia Mountain Range: MAB
& NewLife4Drylands Project

2. AREA OF RECOGNISED IMPORTANCE
2
Biosphere Reserve:
ASTEROUSIA Mt. Range

3. THE SOUTHERNMOST
MOUNTAIN RANGE OF
EUROPE
 Located in the Regional Unity of Heraklion,
Crete, Greece.
 Area of 55 km long in the East-West direction
and 5-10 km wide, along the southern
coastline of Crete.
 Considered as the southernmost mountainous
range of Europe.
 72% of the area is a NATURA 2000 site (SPA:
GR4310013/SACs: GR4310004 & GR4310005)
 3 areas characterized as Wildlife Refuges.

4. UNESCO
MAN & BIOSPHERE
RESERVE (MAB)
Asterousia Mountain
Range: An UNESCO Man
and Biosphere Reserve
(MAB) as of July 2020.
The region possesses a
wide range of geological
formations and
landforms.

5. UNESCO
MAN & BIOSPHERE
RESERVE (MAB)
Pure forest areas are
limited in Asterousia
(around 2%).

6. BIOGEOLOGICAL AND CLIMATE ID
Biosphere Reserve:
ASTEROUSIA Mt. Range

7. TOPOGRAPHY
 Mts. Asterousia are covered by
composite landforms averaging
44% level land, 26% sloping land
and 30% steep land. Forest areas
are limited in Asterousia (ca. 2%).
 The climate of the area is
characterised as sub-humid
Mediterranean, with humid and
relatively cold winters and dry
and warm summers.
 It receives annual rainfall ranging between 500-750 mm (approximately 30% of the area).
 Topography is characterised by steep slopes, very steep cliffs and steep torrents transporting
overland rain water.

8. VEGETATION
 Vegetation consists
mainly of phrygana and
maquis.
 In areas with relatively
deep soils, olive groves,
greenhouses and
vineyards are present.
 Although the natural
vegetation in
Asterousia appears as
scrubs, there is a
capacity for succession
to higher forms, a
process that is

9. SOIL ERROSION
Climate contributes to soil
erosion, with long and dry
summers with high evapo-
transpiration rates, water
scarcity and changes in
rainfall patterns.
The resulting loss of
productive, arable land from
soil erosion and salination,
and the over-pumping of
aquifers to compensate water
losses, are among the key
factors posing a
desertification risk for the

10. 10
HUMAN PRESSURE
Advance of olive monoculture from the foothills to towards the mountain.
Problem: soil erosion due to tillage, water pumping for irrigation of olive orchards
and new access roads.
Unregulated waste disposal.
Landscape fragmentation by extensive road network.
Unregulated development of coastal tourism.

11. HUMAN PRESSURE • Massive development of
Renewable Energy projects
along the mountain rage
(windfarms in various
licensing stages,
photovoltaic projects, etc.).
• Recently licensed
interconnection of Crete
with the continental system
has already led to the
reactivation of some big
projects like the one in
West Asterousia of 300 ha.
• Problems with space, soil
erosion, creation of
ainwater torrents,

12. LIFE PROJECTS WITH NBS
IMPLEMENTATION
12
Biosphere Reserve:
ASTEROUSIA Mt. Range

13. CONSERVATION
LIFE02 NAT/GR/8492, 2002-2006
LIFE17 NAT/GR/000514 – LIFE Bonelli
eastMed, 2018-2023
LIFE16 NAT/GR/000575 LIFE IGIC, 2017-
2024
LIFE Gypaetus barbatus II: Reforestation in Agios Pavlos.
LIFE Bonelli eastMed: Cultivations of
cereals and legumes with conventional
tillage or alternatively using seedballs and
coated seeds for surface sowing (in order
to avoid erosion) in sloping land.
LIFE IGIC is being implemented in olive
groves at the foothills of Asterousia, in
order to increase biodiversity and improve
Green Infrastructures in agroecosystems
by reconnecting natural areas and
countering habitat fragmentation.

14.  LIFE20 PRE/IT/000007: Remote
sensing oriented nature-based
solutions towards a New Life for
Drylands (NewLife4Drylands)
https://www.newlife4drylands.eu/
language/en/
ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT
Provision of water, for increasing the prey availability to
Bonelli`s Eagle (prototype water collector and waterer)

15. “NEWLIFE4DRYLANDS” PROJECT IN ASTEROUSIA
LONG TERM OBJECTIVES
 Improve vegetation cover and productivity
through Nature Based Solutions (NBS) in
degraded or vulnerable areas where
desertification processes are undergoing.
 Establish an approach for mid and long-term
monitoring of restoration through remote
sensing techniques.
 Provide clear, specific and costless assessment of
the restoration process useful for decision-
makers.
FOCUS AREAS
 Produce a Restoration Plan for Asterousia with the most suitable NBS for the area (not binding, but
as advisory and scientific tool for local authorities and government agencies).

16. THANK YOU
mprobonas@nhmc.uoc.gr
Biosphere Reserve:
ASTEROUSIA Mt. Range