Στοιχεία Τόπου
Επίπεδα τόπων:
Χαρτογραφικό υπόβαθρο:
Γενικά Στοιχεία
| Όνομα | LIMNOTHALASSA KOTYCHI - ALYKI LECHAINON | ||||||
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| Κατηγορία Τόπου | Βιότοπος NATURA | ||||||
| Κωδικός Τόπου | GR2330009 | ||||||
| Κύριος Χαρακτήρας |
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| Διοικητική Υποδιαίρεση | Νομός Ηλείας | ||||||
| Δήμος-Κοινότητα | |||||||
| Συνολική Έκταση (ha) | 2337.83 | ||||||
| Χερσαία Έκταση (ha) | 2005.44 | ||||||
| Συνολική Περίμετρος (km) | 24.5 | ||||||
| Μέγιστο Υψόμετρο (m) | 27.0 | ||||||
| Ελάχιστο Υψόμετρο (m) | |||||||
| Ένταξη στο Υπάρχον Θεσμικό Πλαίσιο |
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Χαρακτηριστικά
Αξίες
| Οικολογική Αξία |
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| Κοινωνικοοικονομική/πολιτιστική Αξία |
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| Αισθητική Αξία |
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| Σχόλιο για τις αξίες | Kotychi is the largest and the most significant lagoon occurring in the Peloponnisos. Although agricultural activitiy has been intensified around the Kotychi wetland, the wetland habitats themselves have not been significantly affected by such work.From an ornithological point of view, the lagoon has great ecological interest because it is on of the southernmost lagoons on the western migration route of many birds. For this reason it is a major resting station for migratory birds. The flora of this lagoon includes the species Halocnemum strobilaceum, the populations of which are very degraded in Greece and must be protected. Also, the species Cotula coronopifolia, which has an interesting geographical distribution from a phytogeographical point of view. Pancratium maritimum, is a species whose populations have been reduced along the Greek coasts. Furthermore, the examined area consists a natural ecological laboratory for education and research and is also widely used for fishing.Concerning the fauna of the Kotychi lagoon, some vertebrate species of Annex II of the Directive 92/43/EEC have been recorded. For Caretta caretta sandy beach of the site (especially the belt-shaped islet in front of the lagoon) seems to be quite a satisfactory nesting place, with about 20 nests/ km/ season (Cheiras, pers.comm.). Some more species listed in sections 3.3 and 3.4 have been occurring in the site, evaluated as Other and Greek Important Species for other reasons. Among them the Common Pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, appears in the Greek Red Data Book under the threat category "Endangered" and the Greek Slow Worm, Anguis cephallonicus, is endemic to the southwestern Greece, along with the Peloponnisos endemic fox Vulpes v. hellenica. Some of these taxa are evaluated as Important Species for other reasons since they are protected by the Bern Convention (Erinaceus concolor and Vulpes v. hellenica are excluded). Moreover, Eryx jaculus is eligible for motivation C, since it is included in the CITES Convention. With the exceptions of Rana epeirotica, Rana ridibunda, Ablepharus kitaibelii, Eryx jaculus, Vulpes v. hellenica, Martes foina and Meles meles, the remaining taxa are important because they are protected by the Greek Presidential Decree 67/1981. In addition, the toad Bufo viridis, the frogs Hyla arborea and Rana dalmatina, the lizard A. kitaibelii and the colubrid snake Natrix tessellata, have been evaluated by the CORINE-Biotopes Project receiving motivation D for this reason. Finally, also important are the two Balkan endemics that have been recorded in this site, i.e. the frog Rana epeirotica and the lizard Podarcis taurica ionica, both distributed in western Greece and Albania.Zoologically, this site is also important because of the interesting avifauna living in the area, especially for breeding, passage and wintering waterbirds. This avifauna includes herons, egrets, bitterns, ibises, flamingos, pochards, ducks, terns, and waders as well as birds of prey (eagles, harriers) etc. many of which are threatened taxa in Greece. Species of concern include Pelecanus crispus, Egretta garzetta, Egretta alba, Plegadis falcinellus, Aythya nyroca and Falco naumanni. Due to such a rich fauna, Kotychi lagoon is considered as an E.C. Important Bird Area and is a Ramsar Convention Site. |
Κίνδυνοι
| Απειλές/διαταραχές |
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| Σχόλιο για τις απειλές-διαταραχές | |
| Τρωτότητα | Although this site is one of the Greek Ramsar Convention wetlands, various impacts coming from human activities are known to exist there. The most important of which is intensive and totally uncontrolled shooting, which greatly threatens the local avifauna, especially during winter and migration periods. Arable and stock farming, fishing, digging and banking up, occasional tree-felling and tourism, all variously affect the animal habitats causing their direct destruction or decline, indirectly influence the site's hydrology. Two military air bases operating nearby (in Araxos and Andravida) could somehow affect this site. It is obvious that Kotychi Lagoon shows signs of degradation. It was formerly surrounded by more extensive marshes, which have now been reduced to a narrow zone. The reduction of this zone has taken place gradually mainly during the last 30 years. Levels of fertilizers and pesticides have increased in recent years as streams entering the lagoon also act as drainage channels hence collecting the various pollutants from nearby agricultural lands. Pollutants also come from small olive oil refineries and tomatio processing plants. Emphasis also must be given to another big problem of the lagoon, that is its small depth, which allows the penetration of halophytic plants and consequently to the disappearance of the wetland. The deposition of the suspended matter from the inflowing streams also contributes to this problem. The preservation of the balance and quality of the water is very important for the conservation of the ecosystem as a whole. Increasing tourism is another danger that threatens the sand-dune ecosystems. Sand exctraction from the beach and the sand dunes is also a problem. Negative changes to the ecosystem also result from uncontrolled grazing as well as the establishment of fisheries. Many incidents of the Caretta caretta persecution by local fishermen have been reported (Cheiras, pers. comm.). |
| Προτεραιότητα προστασίας |
Πανίδα και Χλωρίδα
| Χαρακτηριστικά Ενδιαιτήματα |
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| Αξιόλογα Φυτά |
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| Αξιόλογα Θηλαστικά |
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| Αξιόλογα Πτηνά |
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| Αξιόλογα Αμφίβια / Ερπετά |
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| Αξιόλογα Ψάρια |
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| Αξιόλογα Ασπόνδυλα |
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| Σχόλια για τα είδη |
