Author: James Wright M.A., Johns Hopkins University

 Pavlopetri site in Vatika Bay, Laconia Greece. Photo by Peter Lang 2016.Both direct and indirect strategies can be effective approaches to landscape conservation. In cases where resources are immediately threatened, however, pragmatic approaches are often required to provide physical protection, and allow time for longer- term solutions. An ongoing advocacy campaign taking place at Vatika Bay in southern Greece illustrates the effectiveness such direct methods in landscape conservation and contrasts their expediency against those requiring lengthier legislative processes.

Vatika Bay is a maritime landscape located on the southern end of the Peloponnese peninsula. Located at an ancient crossroads of Mediterranean navigation, Vatika has long been a hub of seafaring tradition.   This heritage lives on in traditional fishing villages, in the modern shipping industry and through art such as the “Sailor of Vatika” sculpture, which overlooks the eastern shore at Neapolis (Visit Vatika, 2017). The bay’s marine ecosystem supports numerous endangered and exotic plant and animal species including Posidonia sea grass, Caretta Caretta (loggerhead) sea turtles, Sperm whales and Risso’s dolphins.

 

Vatika is perhaps best known as the site of Pavlopetri, the submerged ruin believed to be among the oldest known underwater sites in the world. Studies conducted during the years 2009-2013 by Dr. Chrysanthi Gallou of the University of Nottingham suggest it dates from the 5^th millennium B.C. The importance of its role in the history of Mediterranean seafaring cannot be overstated (Gallou, 2008).

 

In recent years, conflict has erupted over Vatika Bay as cultural and environmental advocates have squared off with the international shipping industry over damage and pollution caused by anchoring. Locals have observed that the anchors of large ships scar the bay bottom and destroy the meadows of Posidonia seagrass there. Posidonia is the basis of Vatika’s ecosystem, providing erosion control, shelter for juvenile marine animals and a food source for multiple species (European Commission, 2008, p. 4-5). Because the port is unregulated, a corollary concern has been that indiscriminate anchoring will destroy the submerged archaeological site. The conflict escalated recently, when Greek authorities announced the impending passage of a special port regulation which threatens to significantly increase commercial shipping traffic in the bay.

 

Stakeholder responses in this conflict highlight different approaches to resource protection. Although both the cultural and environmental advocates presented a united front in opposing shipping activities in the bay, direct efforts to physically protect the bay’s cultural resources appear to have met with more immediate success than legislative initiatives targeting the environmental issues. 

Responses to the impending special port regulation began when town hall meetings took place among the municipalities surrounding Vatika Bay and resulted in the passage of multiple resolutions calling for resource protection. (Euser 2019). Local attention catapulted the issue to the national and international stages, where representatives of the Greek ministries of both shipping and culture went on record publicly opposing use of the bay as a commercial anchorage. Even the Assistant Director-General of Culture for UNESCO at the time, Francesco Bandarin, appealed to the Greek authorities for regulatory protection of the site (Euser, 2019; Chhotray 2017).

The Greek and international chapters of the Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ARCH) entered the fray in 2016 and succeeded in nominating the Pavlopetri archaeological site to the World Monuments Fund “watch list” of endangered international cultural heritage sites. An annual “watch day” was then established for local stakeholders to come together in solidarity for the cause (World Monuments Fund, 2016).  ARCH also kept the issue relevant on social media and began a letter writing program in which shipping companies were engaged directly with respect to their anchoring practices. The correspondence was non-confrontational and aimed at recruiting the industry as a partner in conservation rather than an opponent to it (Benard, 2018).  

Locally, ARCH facilitated an agreement between the community and the Greek Euphorate of Underwater Antiquities where marker buoys were purchased by private contributors and placed around the site to create a “no anchoring” zone. They also succeeded in having the coordinates of Pavlopetri published on the hydrographic charts used by mariners. An awareness of the Pavlopetri’s presence within the maritime community has resulted in the anchorage area now recommended by the Hellenic Coast Guard being located two and one-half nautical miles from the site (Kouleris, 2019).

On the environmental side, outreach efforts by the Pelagos Cetacean Institute resulted in Vatika Bay being designated as a  Mission Blue “Hope Spot” and a proposed EU Natura 2000 protected Marine Area. This designation has resulted in numerous successful grass-roots projects including beach clean-ups, underwater trash collection and official recognition of carretta-carretta sea turtle nesting sites (Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage, 2019). It was hoped the designation would provide enhanced regulatory environmental protections for the bay (Chhotray, 2017).

 

A legal analysis suggested the presence of ships in the bay to be in violation of international laws including MARPOL 73/78 and EU laws including 92/43/EEC (Benard, 2018). A petition was submitted to the European Parliament protesting the environmental damage inflicted on Vatika Bay and citing evidence from a 2015 Environmental Report published by the Hellenic Center for Marine Research.  (European Parliament, 2017). In response, the EU pledged to “draw the attention of the Greek authorities to the need to take adequate measures in order to prevent damage to Posidonia beds from anchoring activities in Vatika Bay” (European Parliament, 2017).

Unfortunately placing the issue squarely back in the lap of the Greek authorities did not result in Vatika’s establishment as an EU Natura 2000 preserve. Its status was not approved in 2017, and the process appears to be stalled until nominations are again considered in 2022. (Euser, 2019). Despite the admonition of the European Parliament to the Greek authorities to protect Vatika’s Posidonia beds, preparation for the special port regulation still looms.

 

In summary, pragmatic initiatives at Vatika Bay have provided timely practical solutions for the protection of the Pavlopetri submerged archaeological site. These successes illustrate the expediency of direct interventions toward landscape conservation when resources are under imminent threat. Conversely the environmental campaigns for Vatika Bay have largely stalled in the purgatory of legislative procedure. One could hypothesize that this difference is due in part to the limited scope of the Pavlopetri site as compared to the far broader-reaching  environmental issues, but it clearly illustrates that solutions requiring political and legal processes take time to implement, and are unlikely to provide the immediate attention that threatened resources require. Undoubtedly the most effective advocacy strategy will approach such issues from both angles, providing direct relief for immediate threats as well as targeting policy change that will result in lasting protection.

References

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Lang, Peter (2016) Aerial Photo of Pavlopetri Archaeological Site. By permission of the Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage Greek Chapter

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