Greece will be able to create the two new major marine parks it has announced for the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea by the end of this year, the country’s environment and energy minister said Wednesday. Speaking during an international ocean conference in Athens, Theodoros Skylakakis said scientific studies to determine details such as which species will be protected and what measures must be taken will be completed and implemented by year's end.
6% of Greece’s territorial waters. The new park in the Ionian Sea in western Greece will focus on the protection of marine mammals and extend over 14,000 square kilometers from north of the island of Kefallonia to Antikythira in the south, covering 11% of Greek territorial waters. A new system to monitor the parks that will include the use of drones, satellites and artificial intelligence will be ready by 2026, Skylakakis said, with monitoring by traditional methods until then.