Conservation

PRESERVATION AND NATURE CONSERVATION

A large part of the island is protected by a Natura 2000 EU designation. However, at the time of writing (January 2018), the requisite protections had not been ratified at a state level by the central Greek government.

At present the Sustainable Samothraki Group (SUSAKI) is strongly advocating for the island to be designated a Man and Biosphere Reserve, under the auspices of UNESCO. Also important in this process is the Samothraki Open Forum. The 2017 meeting had to be cancelled due to the catastrophic floods that occurred shortly before it was due to be held.

The island is small, and its many highly localised ecosystems are vulnerable, and currently lack adequate protection. There is ongoing loss of the fragile wetlands, and the high goat population is leading to damage to the island's flora, and substantial erosion of topsoil, notably on the west of the island and in the fragile sub-alpine and alpine biomes.

The damage is not yet irreversible.

The high goat population is also preventing regeneration of the old growth forests. There are very few trees under 30 years old, and many of the remant oak trees, vestiges of the oak forest that once cloaked much of the island, are even older.

Proposed UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve

Green: Core conservation area (land and marine)

Pink: Buffer Zone

Yellow: Transition Zone

Red: Settlement

SPECIES

New species are discovered on Samothraki with some regularity, as until recently the flora and fauna of the island was poorly researched.

The total species count to date is 1441.

Of these species, 92 are rare, or are only found on Samothraki.

Samothraki has unique coastal wetlands,and also, unusually, alpine wetlands.

Unique subalpine heathland vegetation is found in the upland regions.

The rivers are largely undisturbed.

MASSIVE ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE BY GOATS

This photograph shows clearly how destructive the goats have been to the island's ecosystem.

In this photograph, we can see a small fenced area, where the goats have not been able to utterly denude the soil.

Many areas of the island risk being turned into a barren desert-like wasteland unless this situation is arrested.

With the topsoil washed away, and the vegetation destroyed, there is nothing to stop rainwater sluicing off the bare rock, causing massive flooding.

The denudation of the plants is also leading to direct conflict between the island's goat herders and apiarists - with the plants destroyed, the flowers needed to make Samothraki's famous honey are no longer present.

Many rare species of plant risk extinction.

A SOLUTION?

The number of goats need to be reduced. More than that, the goats need to be supervised, and an analysis carried out of the communal grazing lands - with some kind of communal management and grazing rotational system put in place, so that eroded areas are able to recover from over-grazing.

It should be possible to manage the communal pastures on Samothraki, so as not to turn the island into a bare rock in the sea. To do this, the goat farmers will need to play a more active role in their livestock management.

There also needs to be management of feral goats - while protecting those animals that preserve the genetics of the extinct wild goat.

This will mean less 'farming from the cafe', as prevention of this damage will require active intervention by shepherds who go to the pasture with their animals.

FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES SEPTEMBER 2017

In September 2017 the severity of the over-grazing problem came to a head, with massive flooding and landslides.

If the soils had more resilience,some of the water would have been absorbed, and the water flow would have been slowed down, allowing more time for absorption

The town of Chora was badly affected, with roads, buildings and vehicles destroyed.

There were also severe land slips in the area around Xiropotamos.

Many roads and bridges were washed away in various locations around the island, with the total damage amounting to many millions of euros.

EUROPEAN UNION HABITATS DIRECTIVE 92/43 EEC

A large section of the island is also covered by this directive

EUROPEAN UNION BIRDS DIRECTIVE 2009/147/EC

The Birds Directive protects similar areas of the island - although some areas fall into the protected areas of the birds directive that are not protected by the Habitats Directive and vice versa.