Greece is situated in the south of the Balkan peninsula and is a part of the European East Mediterranean Region. Its territory expands in approximately 132,000 km², its coast line is 15,000 km long, and has a great variety of geomorphological formations and rocks. In general, the climate of Hellas can be regarded as Mediterranean, with mild winter and dry summer. The rainfall period is mainly during autumn and spring. The diverse composition of the substrate, the mountainous character of the country resulting in a diverse ground relief, the existence of about 42 mountains higher than 2000 m, the long coast line and the numerous peninsulas and islands all account for the high diversity of the landscape. Furthermore, distinctive and isolated biotopes result in a relatively great number of endemic or rare plant and animal species.

Greece has a wide range of climate types, ranging from the semi-arid, semi-desert climate of south-eastern Crete to the cold, humid continental climate of Rhodope. The flora has a Mediterranean, Central European and Irano-Caspian character. The physical relief is also complex; 70% of the land is mountainous. Equally varied are the geology and petrology of the country.

The diversity of bioclimates created by the interaction of the above parameters is reflected in the diversity and mosaic of vegetation and the high number of plant and animal species. Approximately six thousand plant species have been identified in Hellas. In Europe, only the Iberian peninsula can show more. The diversity of vegetation, flora and fauna resulted in numerous ecosystems, from the semi-desert palm forest at Vai in Crete to the boreal forests of birch, scots pine and spruce in Rhodope mountain range. This diversity of ecosystems is crowded into a relatively small space; in travelling 150 km from the town of Kavala to central Rhodope all the vegetation zones i.e. Mediterranean, Central European and Northern (Scandinavian) are observed.

The climatic changes that have taken place during the Earth s history, and especially since the Ice Ages, have played a major role in the high degree of biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin. The north to south alignment of the Dinaric Alps and the Hellenic mountains facilitated the southerly movement of many species, thus enriching the flora and fauna of the region and creating many hybrids, especially among the forest trees (e.g. fir, beech). These channels of communication remain open even today. Thus, a significant number of purely mid-European species are encountered in Hellas.

There is also a great variety of non-zonal wetland ecosystems (shallow coastal areas, lagoons, lakes, marshes, rivers, deltas, artificial lakes, salt works, etc.). These ecosystems are influenced more by their hydrological characteristics than by climate, and are thus classified as non-zonal.

The ecosystems of Hellas, both dry land and non-zonal wetland, share a remarkable feature. Despite intense human activity which resulted in three quarters of the wetlands having been destroyed, and one of the lowest percentages of forest cover (25%) in the European Mediterranean area, these ecosystems have, to a large extent, retained their original composition. In no other Mediterranean or European country has such great biodiversity been preserved in such a natural state. Unfortunately this national and cultural heritage has not been adequately studied, evaluated, and inventoried to date. Although the existing studies provide much valuable information, they are the result of individual efforts which are scattered in various libraries and archives. It is essential to find and record all the work that has been done to date and to work out a plan of action to acquire all the information necessary for the rational management and protection of rare and unique habitats and species in Hellas.

Following the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Rio Summit in 1992, various efforts have been undertaken aiming to preserve the world biodiversity. In order to further promote the protection of natural resources, the Bern Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats and the Directive 92/43/EEC were the next steps.

The Directive 92/43 of the EEC Council of 21 May 1992, commonly referred to as the Habitat Directive aims at contributing to the preservation of biodiversity through the conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora within the territory of the Member States of the European Union. It provides for the development of a network of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), called NATURA 2000 which aims at ensuring a protection status for the natural habitats and species of Community interest. This network will consist of sites that host various types of natural habitats and flora and fauna species listed in Annexes I and II respectively. It is expected that the above network will ensure the conservation and hopefully the restoration of the various types of natural habitats and habitats of species within their natural boundaries.

In the context of the effort of the European Union for the identification and evaluation of biodiversity, the implementation of the Directive has started in June 1994 in Hellas, with the execution of a project entitled Inventory, Identification, Evaluation and Mapping of the Habitat types and Flora and Fauna species in Hellas (Directive 92/43/EEC) . The creation of the NATURA 2000 network, to which the Hellenic Government is committed, will help protect endangered species and their habitats by ensuring their restoration or maintenance at a favourable conservation status.

The aim of this publication is to present the results of the inventory of natural habitat types and species included in Annex I and II to Directive 92/43/EEC respectively, in a concise and intelligible manner. Special emphasis was placed on the interpretation, evaluation, and illustration of the data recorded in the Standard Data Forms. To this end, distribution maps of natural habitats and species are annexed. Finally, data on species not listed in Annex II to the directive, which are referred to by the project as Other Important Species and which are present in the studied sites are also included in the present publication.