agricultural development

Agricultural development has particularly hit the flower rich wet meadows that are and important component of the wetland ecosystems. There are now very few of these left. Those of Faneromeni, a very important though small wetland in a dry area, have almost disappeared with a surviving component drained and ploughed in 2000. Meadows along the Vouvaris near Achladeri have been partially ploughed in 2001.
Drainage ditch cut through wet meadow at Faneromeni and the subsequent conversion to arable.
Flower rich meadows on the Vouvaris River 2000 2001
This process is a well-known consequence of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which provides incentives to farmers to intensify their land to increase their income with, as a result, losses of valuable agricultural habitats and landscapes. The farmers of Lesbos cannot be blamed for taking advantage of the CAP. What is to be done? The solution is also contained within the CAP. This is to set up an environmentally sensitive farming scheme designed to protect the wetlands and particularly the flower rich wet meadows of Lesbos. Under such a scheme the owners of these valuable habitats would receive financial incentives to maintain them as they are. It would also be possible to extend the scheme to the restoration of meadows that have been lost or damaged. Given the extent of the losses in recent years this is probably required both around the Gulf of Kalloni and at Faneromeni.