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.
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.
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