Nature Guardians in Action!
On July the 18th I was at the famous Louros beach in Western Greece, along with 50 volunteers from 10 NGOs for the purposes of collecting rubbish, 10,000 litres to be exact, mostly left by day trippers. Louros beach is part of the Messolonghi-Aitoliko wetland and National Park. The cleanup was organised by the Greek Ecotourism Society, a new non-governmental, non-profit organisation. Our overall aim was to unite local NGOs, raise awareness, and support the understaffed National Park authority. Currently there are no waste or recycling bins in the area, which is popular with locals and flamingoes, while environmental awareness is low. Louros beach also suffers from illegal/unlicensed construction (summerhouses and beach bars). Our project, "Nature Guardians, Active Citizens for Sustainable Management of Preservation of Protected Areas", will continue with another voluntary cleanup and a day conference in September 2021, in Lake Trichonida, Greece's largest natural lake, also in Western Greece.