Restoration of The Lake
Lake Karla, some 300 km (190 mi) north of Athens, was an 180 km² lake that was completely drained in 1962 to gain land for agriculture. The lake was part of the ancient Greek mythology (the god Apollo was married on its shores). Before its drainage, it was the site of a unique fishermen culture, with the fishermen spending some nine months of the year in reed huts that they built on the lake. The lake fisheries were an important tradition and to some extent a significant economic activity.
For these reasons, and because agriculture was never successful in the saline soils of the former lake bed, the local population supports an ambitious project to restore the lake. The restoration will reflood only 50 of the original 180 km² of the former lake. The project represents a 100 million ECU investment that would be financed with the support of the European Commission. Some technical aspects still require further elaboration in order to ensure that it is environmentally sound, but the project has so much popular and political support that most likely it will go ahead. If so, it would represent one of the most ambitious wetland restoration projects and a good case study for the Ramsar Convention.
Read more about this topic: Lake Karla
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