Author: ncc

The volunteer team Andros Routes and the LIFE Andros Park project team are organizing an excursion to search for indigenous wild plants of Andros in the area of ​​Arni and Remata and invite you to join. The excursion will take place on Saturday 11 May at 10.00 am. Meeting point will be the church of Virgin Mary at Arni, next to the headquarters of the Arni Cultural Association. From there, we will go by Municipalities’ bus to the area of ​​Remata, from where our hiking will begin, in order to visit the alder forest that exists in the area. Then, we will descend to the area of Arni, ending up at the Church in Arni, where our vehicles will be. Andros Island presents a unique habitat composition and special flora…

The plantings for the restoration of the alder forests in the areas of Vori and Lefka have began, the first phase was completed and about 3,000 seedlings have been planted. In recent years, the riparian alder forests of Andros have undergone a significant degradation and parts of them have been destroyed. Aiming at their restoration, in the framework of the project, collection of seeds from the island's trees took place, followed by sowing and seedlings development at the premises of the Agricultural University of Athens last year (2017-18) and seedlings relocation to a nursery at the Agadaki Estate of the Kaireios Library (2018- 19), followed by their transplantation to selected locations in Vori and Lefka. Prior to the transplantation (2018), site visits were carried out, as well as a meeting…

On Sunday, 24 March, the beach cleaning of Paraporti at Chora took place, following the call of the Andrion Club, the Andros Port Authority, the Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Andros – SEDA, the Andros Yacht Club and the team of the LIFE Andros Park project. With good spirit and enthusiasm, despite the cold and windy weather, 50 volunteers cleaned the entire beach at Paraporti. In total, more than 400 kg of marine litter was collected. Those who participated had the opportunity to be informed on the wetland of Paraporti, marine litter and volunteerism, while the children tried the use of water hoses of the SEDA fire brigade.     Part of the marine litter collected will be separated to categories by the team of the Municipality of Andros participating…

The Andrion Club, the Port Authority of Andros, the Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Andros - SEDA, the Andros Yacht Club and the team of the LIFE Andros Park project organize and invite you to the cleaning of Paraporti Beach in Chora. The beach cleaning will take place on Sunday 24 March at 11.00. Meeting point will be the "The Rock" canteen. The participants will be informed about the value of the wetland in Paraporti, by the LIFE project team, followed by the beach cleaning and the parallel information on marine litter and the ways we can help to tackle this problem, by the Andros Port Authority and the LIFE project team. After the cleaning, SEDA will present to the participants its fire brigade and inform them on volunteering. It…

One of the project’s actions is the regular cleaning of the beaches of our island. On 22 February, the local project team visited Achla beach and on March 1 Ateni beach for this purpose. The beaches were cleaned of plastics and other wastes in the context of project actions aiming to improve the Mediterranean Monk Seal, Mediterranean Shag and Audouin’s Gull habitats, as well as to systematically record plastic and microplastic in the sea and the coasts of Andros. In this effort we want you with us. If you are interested in participating or co-organizing in your region a beach cleaning please express your interest through sending an email here: lifeandrospark@gmail.com The cleaning of selected beaches and recording of plastic and microplastic will continue throughout the project.

On the weekend of March 2-3, masks were made in collaboration with the Andrion Club in Chora and the Parent and guardian club of the primary school of Gavrio. In total, 60 children participated, learned about the marine species for which the project implements actions on Andros Island. They masked into Audouin’s Gulls, Mediterranean Shags and Mediterranean Monk Seals, imitated their voices and painted their islets, as they would like them to be. Apart from nests, trees, caves and beaches, on their islets there was plenty of food, fish and octopuses, but also sea horses, sea urchins and mermaids. For the needs of the workshops, educational material for the Mediterranean Monk Seal of MOm, for seabirds of the Hellenic Ornithological Society and of the LIFE SIMARINE-NATURA project was utilized. Workshop…

The weekend 2-3 March 2019, the project team in collaboration with the Andrion Club and the Parent and guardian club of the primary school of Gavrio, organizes mask making workshops at Chora of Andros and Gavrio. In the workshop, the children will make masks and will be informed by special scientists about the Mediterranean monk seal and the seabirds of Andros.    

Representatives of the LIFE Andros Park project participated in the first meeting with stakeholders held by the newly established Management Body of the Protected Areas of Cyclades on the 2nd of February in Athens. The meeting was one of the Management Body’s first moves, highlighting its intention for collaboration with stakeholders that are already active in the protection and management of the Natura 2000 sites of Cyclades. The meeting was attended by members of the Management Body’s Board, representatives of stakeholders active in the protection of the environment and the implementation of actions and projects within protected areas of Cyclades, most of which were or are involved in the implementation of LIFE projects in Cyclades, as well as by representative of the team that will undertake the elaboration of the…

In 18 January 2019, in the framework of the project LIFE Andros Park, the local team visited the beach of Vori, in order to clean the beach of plastics and other marine debris, for the improvement of the habitat of the Mediterranean Monk Seal, the Mediterranean Shag and the Audouin’s Gull, as well as for the systematic recording of plastic and microplastic found at coasts of Andros island. Plastics and other waste debris of estimated weight of about 250 kg, were removed from the beach. Furthermore, sampling for the estimation of the quantities of plastic and microplastic at the beach carried out. The cleaning of selected beaches and recording of plastics and microplastics will continues throughout the project.

Researchers of MOm visited all the marine caves, shelters of the Mediterranean Monk Seal, at the project area in January. They checked the automated infrared cameras that have been installed and collected the necessary scientific data. The field work was carried out with the coordinated action of the MOm and the Municipality of Andros teams, for whose needs the Municipality's vessel "Calypso" was used. The important collected data are already being analysed, in order to be used for the completion of the report on the status of the Mediterranean Monk Seal’s habitat in the broader area of Andros Island.