Wildlife in the Ruins: Biodiversity Surveys in Archeological Sites (20 min)

Presenters

Panayiotis Pafilis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Theophanis Constantinidis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Aristides Parmakelis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; and Ioannis Anastasiou, National and Kapodistr

Abstract

The protection of antiquities was one of the first concerns of the newly established kingdom of Greece. In 1833, the (governmental) Antiquities Service was founded, to be followed by the Archaeological Society at Athens in 1837. Since then, the conservation and research of the remains of the ancient world (but also modern monuments) has been carried out in an exemplary way through an extent network of archaeological sites and museums that spreads throughout the country. Today in Greece there is a well-articulated administrative organization in the national as well as in the regional level (first and second level local government) that offers the possibility to all stakeholders to collaborate in programs for the protection and enhancement of the archaeological sites and monuments according to the legislation governing the protection of antiquities: Law 4858/2021 (Government Gazette 220/A/19.11.2021) “Ratification of the Code for Legislation on the Protection of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in General.” The modern approach of cultural heritage management embraces monuments as a whole, including largely neglected elements such as biodiversity.

Biodiversity loss is considered one of the major problems of our times and the first step to conserve it is to get to know it. Greece represents a global biodiversity hotspot, hosting thousands of animal and plant species, many of which are endemic. For the past 30 years, the European Union network of protected areas Natura 2000 is the effective umbrella conserving Greek wildlife. However, there is strong evidence from literature that archaeological sites served as an alternative (and certainly unexpected) protective network for biodiversity. In 2022, the Ministry of Culture together with the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency collaborated with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in an innovative program to record the biodiversity of 20 iconic archaeological sites. Some of them are registered in the World Heritage List of UNESCO, while others are located within a Natura 2000 area. The first results from the fieldwork suggest that archaeological sites indeed harbor numerous species, many of them steno endemic to particular areas like Peloponnese or Crete. The program aims to contribute to a holistic management of cultural heritage that would respect the environmental integrity of archeological sites.