Friends of Schinias

Monday, March 17, 2008

The Schinias National Park is a unique ecosystem in Attica, and one of the few left in Greece. It comprises a wetland, a forest area, and a beach/coastal dune system together with an marine area.

Schinias Forest & Beach - the View from Pendeli Mountain

At Schinias, the pine trees grow right on the shore. This ecosystem must resemble what Greece looked like in antiquity, before forest fires, over-grazing and urbanisation. Over 1 million people visit Schinias each year, creating incredible stress on the ecosystem.

An automated fire fighting system has been installed. But due to lack of funding and technical incompatibilities, the system is not connected to the water mains. In the case of a fire, this system will not work.

Garbage is strewn throughout the Park. This is mostly food packaging: plastic bottles, tin cans, paper, plastic containers, etc.

On March 16th, 150 volunteers met to clean the forest and beach of Schinias.

All ages were represented. Greeks, Americans, French, British, Australians, Dutch, Belgians, Canadians, Brazilians, Israelis, Palestinians, Chinese, Moldovans, Serbians, Koreans and Germans all participated. All shared one common goal: to clean and remove as much garbage as possible, restoring the forest and beach to its native state.

The event drew the support of the private and public sectors, as well as civil society. from left: Christina Gavrili, Gr. Sarantis SA; Athan Vellanites, HELADA; Scott Hathaway, HELADA; Manolis Sideris, Municipality of Marathon

Over 300 bags of garbage were collected and placed in the blue recycling bins for selection and recycling.

The garbage was trapped (or deposited) in the schinias bushes, from which the Park gets its name. This was time-consuming to find and remove. Here, Madeleine Theochari and Alexander Ammerman celebrate the removal of a bottle.

The young were no less valiant than the old.

Henske and Lieke Defize, long-time inhabitants of Nea Makri, ran the registration desk.

The Municipality of Marathon supported the event. Despite the fact that there was a national strike of sanitation unions, the Municipality's work crews and truck worked with the volunteers through the morning.

Agripan SA donated the use of a beach-cleaning tractor and crew. Sarantis SA donated the garbage bags used in the clean-up. The Athens News, Kathimerini and Skai 100.3 FM promoted the event.

The Mayor of Marathon explained the difficulties faced by the Municipality in caring for the Park. From left: Dr. Elias Carayiannis, Philip Dragoumis, Jimmie Katsinis, Mayor Spyridon Zagaris, Minos Kok.

After the clean-up, Dr. Kimon Hadjibiros, President of the Managing Body of the National Park of Marathon-Schinias, gave a short presentation on the park and its objectives. Although the Park has been established by the government, resources have not been allocated for its proper operation.

Dr. Elias Carayiannis, Evan Matiatos and Dr. Kimon Hadjibiros discussing the Park.

After the clean-up, a picnic was held on the beach, coordinated by Regina Tassitano.

In all, an area approximately 200 m x 100 m was cleaned. Although small compared with the total area of the Park, it was a good start to what many hope will be a recurring event.

Volunteers Clean the Beach and Forest of Schinias

Athens, 17 March 2008
Philip Ammerman
pga@navigator-consulting.com

On Sunday, March 16th, in a rare example of public, private and civil society cooperation, some 150 volunteers gathered to clean the beach and forest of Schinias. Under a bright, wind-swept sky, the group managed to clear an area of about 200 m x 100 m, or about 20 stremmata of forest. Although this is a small part of the total area of Schinias, it was a strong start to what many will hope will be an ongoing effort.

The volunteers were all ages and nationalities: Greeks, Americans, French, British, Australians, Dutch, Belgians, Canadians, Brazilians, Israelis, Palestinians, Chinese, Moldovans, Serbians, Koreans and Germans all participated. All shared one common goal: to clean and remove as much garbage as possible, restoring the forest and beach to its native state.

The clean-up initiative was launched by NAVIGATOR Consulting Group Ltd., and co-organised by Athenes Accueil; the Foreigners Club of Nea Makri, Marathon, Rafina and Northeast Attica; the Hellenic-American Democratic Association (HELADA); MIAFYSI International Nature Network; and the Princeton Club of Greece.

Both the public and private sectors supported the effort. The Municipality of Marathon provided a cleaning crew and garbage truck during the day, despite the fact that it was Sunday and the national strike by sanitation workers was in effect. Gr. Sarantis SA donated plastic garbage bags used by the volunteers. Agripan SA provided a tractor and crew for cleaning the beach. Skai 100.3 FM radio, Kathimerini and The Athens News provided invaluable publicity for the event.

Following the clean-up, a picnic lunch was held on the beach. Dr. Kimon Hadjibiros, President of the Managing Body of the Marathon-Schinias National Park, made a short presentation on the goals and objectives of the Park. This year will be the first time that the Park receives funding to employ 3 park rangers, who will work from April to November at Schinias.

The Schinias National Park faces grave environmental threats, as there are not enough funds or resources to properly safeguard the area. Every year, over 1 million people visit the beach, mostly Athenians coming for the day. Ton of garbage and refuse are left on the beach and forest, ranging from food packaging to baby diapers to rusted beach umbrellas and chairs. During the high season, over 1,000 cars enter the park, creating significant damage to the beach and dunes.

Yet perhaps the most dangerous threat is that of fire. Schinias–like Olympia–has benefited from the installation of an automated fire fighting system. Unfortunately this system has never been connected to the municipal water main network due to lack of funds and technical incompatibility. With the high winds and large number of visitors during the dry summer months, a fire could start and spread in a very short time period, causing incalculable damage.

Additional initiatives are being planned: interested people are invited to visit the website www.schinias-friends.org to receive information on future events.

Roll of Honour
We warmly thank all organisations and individuals who participated and contributed to this event. (If you contributed and are not on this list, or know someone who was there and is not mentioned, please email corrections to Philip Ammerman at pga@navigator-consulting.com)

Organisers
Athenes Accueil
Foreigners Club of Nea Makri, Marathon, Rafina and Northeast Attica
Hellenic-American Democratic Association (HELADA)
MIAFYSI International Nature Network
NAVIGATOR Consulting Group
Princeton Club of Greece

Municipality of Marathon
Spyridon Zagaris, Mayor
Manolis Sideri, Sanitation Director

Marathon-Schinias National Park
Dr. Kimon Hadjibiros, President

Donations & Support
Agripan SA, ETEMA SA, John Lewis, Gr. Sarantis SA

Media & Promotion
SKAI 100.3 FM, The Athens News, Kathimerini

Car Pool
Murray Brill, Chris Woodfin, Mandy Veil, Athan Vellanites

Promotion & Dissemination
Philip Ammerman, Philip Dragoumis, Myriam Elice, George Keramitzoglou, Minos Kok, Karen Lee, Steven Medeiros, Alexis Phylactopoulos, Daisy Rodriguez, Charity Moschopoulos

Picnic
Regina Tassitano, Alexander Ammerman, Christine Ammerman

Registration Desk
Lieke & Henske Defize

Volunteers & Participants
Despina Alexandri
Philip Ammerman
Alexander Ammerman
Sophie & Stephen Ammerman
Nikos Anastasopoulos
Thomas Anemos
Spyros Beis
Chrystelle Blanchard
Pascaline Bossu
Kostas Botopoulos
Nadia Boujnini-Lahlou
Murray Brill
Michelle Buckley
Elias Carayiannis
Ruth Carter
Jean Chlochard
Katrien Cobbaert
Emmanouel Constantinides
Esme Copestake
Christine Counelis
Lieke & Henske Defize
Catherine Delcourt
Rosemary Donnelly
Philip Dragoumis
John Economides
Dimitris Eleftherakis
Myriam Elice
Yael Eshel
Rebecca Fordham
Dimitris Fragakis
Christina Gavrili
Kalliope Georgpanti
Sonia Gerodimou
Rami Ghoneim
Thodoris Gialiathakis
Keri Golas
Harry & Sue Goldsmith
Kimon Hadjibiros
Scott Hathaway
Anna Haughton
Aya Haykel
Hadeel Hmaidi
Paula Hobson
Andreas Idra
Shelley & Hercules
Romina Istrati
Panos Karametzanis
James Katsinis
George Keramitzoglou
Brady Kiesling
Katerina Kitsili
Minos Kok
Eleana-Sara
Elli & Kassandra Kousouli
Deborah Kyrvrikosaios
Karen Lee
Evan Matiatos
Isaak Mavrides
Judith Mega
Sophie Mitic
Apostolis Mitropoulos
JoonSeok Oh
Angela Papalambrou
Hadar Papatrechas
Alexandros Perrakis
Alexis Phylactopoulos
Theodoros Rentzias
George Saliarelis
Sofia Skourti
Manolis Sideris
Kostas Spyrides
Regina Tassitano
Madeleine Theochari
Barbara Tomasini
Ingrid Vangastel
Mandi Veil
Athan Vellanitis
Spiros Vlahos
Chris Woodfin
Spyridon Zagaris
George Zarkadas
Anthea Zervos
Peipei Zhu

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Schinias Beach Clean-up

Schinias Beach (c) Matt Barrett, www.greektravel.com

On Sunday, March 16th, a group of volunteers is organising a "Kathari Deftera" clean-up of Schinias Beach. This is a volunteer effort, co-organised by NAVIGATOR Consulting, HELADA (the Hellenic-American Democratic Association), ΜΙΑΦΥΣΙ, the Princeton Club of Greece, the Foreigners Club of Nea Makri-Marathon, and others.

Objective
Our objective is to collect and bag as much garbage as possible. We will place the collected garbage in the newly-installed recycling bins placed near the beach.

The warm weather is starting, and with it the influx of visitors to Schinias, a sensitive ecosystem, is growing. The site is littered with garbage, mostly plastic, metal and glass packaging left over the years. This is not only environmentally-harmful, but also accellerates forest fires.

We will focus on cleaning as much of the forest region as possible: the beach is cleaned by the Municipality using mechanical means during the summer, but the forest is rarely cleaned. The amount of ground we will cover will depend on the number of volunteers to turn out on March 16th. Please RSVP, so we can plan the meeting points and work crews.

Meeting Place
In Schinias: Meet at the "Glaros" taverna on the beach. Take the first right-hand turn after the tavernas on the paved road which runs parallel to the forest and beach. Please arrive between 10:15 - 10:30 so we can begin cleaning.

Cleaning will start at around 10:30 and continue until 13:00.

What to Bring
Please bring with you:

- Water or beverages to drink (personal consumption)
- Garbage bags for collection of garbage (we will have some bags on site)
- Comfortable work clothes, including work gloves if preferred

We will be eating a picnic lunch at 13:00: we would appreciate it if you could bring a salad, cold-cuts, tiropitakia, keftedakia, drinks/beverages or other food to contribute to the common lunch.

Contact Information
For more information, please contact Philip Ammerman:
email: pga@navigator-consulting.com
Skype: philipammerman
GSM: 6977-662-450
Office: 210-640-3098

Directions & Map

For a PDF copy of these directions, please email Philip Ammerman: pga@navigator-consulting.com.

Start at the Stavros intersection, on Leoforos Marathonas (Marathon Avenue). You reach this by:

• Driving up Messogheion from Ambelokipous;
• Taking the Hymettos Ring or the Attiki Odos and exiting at Exit 15: Leoforos Marathonas, or Exit 16/Y7: Leontario, direction Rafina;
• If coming from Kifissia, driving through Meli-ssia, taking Anapafseos and Kleisthenous, which intersect Messogheion at Stavros.

Follow Marathon Avenue, driving past Pallini, Rafina, Nea Makri, and Marathon. About 30 km after Stavros, exit at the blue exit sign “Schinias” and “Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre.”

About 3 km later, turn right at the turn marked: “Schinias-Olympic Rowing Centre”, which is next to a bakery and real estate agency.

Drive by the Olympic Rowing Centre on your left. The asphalt road veers left: this is Leoforos Schinias. Drive about 2 km, passing a small hamlet of houses and tavernas. About 250m after the last taverna, turn right after the “Glaros” taverna sign. This dirt road leads you to the beach, and 2-3 tavernas. Turn right, following the dirt road parallel to the beach about 100m, where you will find our meeting spot.