Sign here to save our sand.

This page was created because the sand in Zakynthos is in danger. We don’t want to lose our precious beaches and beautiful sand dunes. Now, Zakynthos needs your support. Sign to Save our Sand!

Αυτή η σελίδα δημιουργήθηκε γιατί η άμμος στη Ζάκυνθο είναι σε κίνδυνο. Δε θέλουμε να χάσουμε τις πολύτιμες παραλίες και τους πανέμορφους αμμόλοφους μας. Τώρα η Ζακυνθος χρειάζεται την υποστήριξη σου!

Esta página fue creada porque la arena en Zakynthos está en peligro. No queremos perder nuestras preciosas playas y hermosas dunas de arena. Ahora, Zakynthos necesita tu apoyo. Regístrate para salvar nuestra arena!

Diese Seite wurde geschaffen, weil die Sanddünen in Zakynthos in Gefahr sind. Wir wollen unsere kostbaren Strände und wunderschönen Sanddünen nicht verlieren. Jetzt braucht Zakynthos ihre Unterstützung. Signiert, um den Sand zu retten!

SOS sign here - Save Our Sand

Sand is a valuable natural resource analogous to water.
Although Sand dunes of Laganas Bay are a priority for protection habitat, they are deliberately destroyed and ourprecious sand is disappearing from the beaches.
The National Marine Park of Zakynthos was established to protect these habitats, yet the responsible authorities areturning a blind eye to the bulldozing of the dunes.
Vote Now to send out an SOS, to demand that our beaches and sand dunes, that replenish them, must beprotected, for us, for our children.

Imagine Laganas bay without sand -- the sand where our summer visitors sunbathe, build sand sculptures of sea turtles, and write their names to be wiped clean by the waves.

The sand that thousands of fauna and flora species call their home; including the endangered Sea Turtles , the Javelin Sand Boa and the sea daffodil Pancratium maritimum.

It seems impossible, yet if you walk the beach from Kalamaki to Laganas, the sad fact is evident: Our sand is disappearing.

Imagine an empty, rocky stretch from Kalamaki to Agio Sosti. Who will spend their summers in Zakynthos when the sand is gone? Who will fill the sunbeds, the hotels, and the restaurants?

Let’s save our sand while we still can. Vote here and now to stop the destruction.

Zakynthos stands out as a tourist destination because of the endangered loggerhead sea turtle that nest on the sandy beaches. In fact, the National Marine Park of Zakynthos was created with the aim to protect the nesting beaches of Lagana Bay.

Yet our sand is disappearing; and those who are charged with protecting our beaches are failing in their duty.

How is this happening? The main issue is that people are bulldozing the sand dunes and building on them. Others collect sand and rocks from the dunes and beaches to use in construction or decoration of their homes and businesses.

But the dune ecosystem is more important than it seems. Sand dunes serve as a repository, to replenish beaches after the erosion of winter coastal storms. Without a strong and stable dune system, the beaches cannot recover from the storms.

We demand immediate action by the responsible authorities to protect the last remaining dunes in Zakynthos. Vote Now. Our Island’s future depends on it!

Kalamaki_ZakynthosA morning walk in the National Marine Park an nesting place of the Carretta Carretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle) to document the ongoing destruction of the sand dune ecosystem. These sand dunes act as storage from which the longest beach on Zakynthos, one of it's top tourism attractions and home to many species including the endangered Carretta..

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The Sand Movement started after an barrage of illegal activities in the last sand dune ecosystem left on our island.

Illegal activities included construction, felling of trees and leveling of valuable sand dunes protected by international treaties. The issue reached its peak when vehicles entered for excavations and leveled large areas of sand dunes. This was described by the president of the National Marine Park as a cleaning project.

Activities that threaten the sand:

shell and sand removal
removal of Posidonia piles (seaweed) that hold tons of sand
stealing sand for use in construction

"We happen to be a tourist destination and our island has invested in tourism. Visitors to the island come for the sea, sand and sun. The beaches in Laganas Bay have seen a dramatic reduction in the amount of sand they have. If we want to continue to have beaches we need our dunes. The coastal ecosystem is a living, mobile ecosystem. The beach is refilled with sand because the wind carries the sand from the dunes and takes them to the shores. The seaweed Posidonia is also a stabilizing element of the beach. We remove this because it bothers tourists. Even in this way we reduce the sand. We have also failed to prevent shell collection. "All of this is sounding the alarm: Our children will have mud, not beaches, to show off to visitors."

- Anta Vlachoutsikou in the newspaper Imera

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