Kyparissia: One year of continuous pressure has finally paid off

Following the Council of Europe’s “Recommendation No. 174 for the case file Greece: Threats to marine turtles in Thines Kyparissias”, which urged Greece to prevent habitat deterioration and ensure improved protection of Southern Kyparissia Bay, MEDASSET, in cooperation with other Environmental NGOs, lobbied the Greek state for the implementation of the Recommendation. The Hellenic Council of State, the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece, taking into account the above-mentioned Recommendation and our intervention, ruled against the previous draft Presidential Decree on Kyparissia bay that had been made by the Greek Government in April 2015, since it wouldn’t have granted the area the necessary protected status. Although the Council of State urged that a new Presidential Degree be issued, this was not done until February 2016.

Twenty years after the Greece’s first referral to the European Court of Justice for failing to ensure protected status for Caretta caretta sea turtles, the general prosecutor of the European court suggested on Thursday, February 18 that Greece be convicted of failure to introduce measures to protect the Gulf of Kyparissia. In order to avoid this, the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy finally put a draft Presidential Decree out for public consultation on 26th February 2016. MEDASSET, together with the other environmental NGOs, will comment on the draft and intensify its efforts to achieve the maximum possible protection for Southern Kyparissia Bay.