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Issues on Rhodes in need to be faced as identified by Nikos Kasseris
As photographer and environmentalist Nikos Kasseris made a presentation during the workshop with focuses on the question of development. He identified key issues through a corresponding set of amazing photos.
Following issues were identified:
1. Risks to the Natural Environment
- the forest fire in 2008 meant a huge amount of land was burned
- the fire disturbed the ecological balance and affected fauna, animals and water
2. There is a lack of urban / spatial planning
- no effective land use
- missing is an urban plan
- permissions to construct almost anywhere are easily obtained, and if not done so semi legal or even illegally
- wetlands are as a result of this development under threat
A few examples can illustrate that: the airport has been constructed on former agricultural and wetlands; the port, under construction since 1964, is an unresolved problem; whenever new pipe systems cross precious land, including natura 2000, it opens up the way to new construction; there is a lot of illegal construction especially with new hotels encroaching upon natural beaches.
3. Rubbish
- solid waste is difficult to handle since no proper waste management is in place and more seriously there is no prevention policy being implemented to safeguard the land from illegal landfills or rubbish dumps (over the backside)
- a particular example concerns the Palm trees which are a landmark on Rhodes but which have been affected by disease and which prompoted them these Palm trees to be disposed as just rubbish
4. Energy issue
- due to the influx of tourists every year, there is a high demand which is met only by one power plant operating by using petroleum which causes pollution
- there is a start of wind parks and the use of solar energy but this alters demand for land and right now covers merely 4% of the overall demand
5) Erosion of shores
- especially the shores on the Western part of the island are affected by soil and shore erosion and thus affects both properties and the economic base of local enterprises e.g. hotels
- this phenomenon happens throughout Greece
6) Water resource
- bad management has lead to a loss of water quality (the water on Rhodes has become increasingly salty)
- the dam lake is a solujtion but need to reduce the consumption of water e.g. tourist development has seen an explosion of swimming pools
7) cultural heritage
- due to tourist development natural settlements unable to respond
- need management of cultural heritage, especially of the world heritage site in Rhodes and the potential heritage in Lindos
- concentration of tourist linked services in sensitive areas with great cultural heritage has led to noise pollution and absence of basic services e.g. no own bakery, a phenomenon also referred to by Nikos Stavrolakis with regards to the old town of Chania
- the newly build area encroaches upon both nature and cultural heritage sites
Conclusions:
Many settlements face unsurmountable problems which remain unresolved and thus makes future development unsustainable.
There is a constant increase in traffic, but no political will to find a technical solution for this problem.
Wetlands are being destroyed by extracting continuously from dried out river beds sand and gravel. As this destroys the river bed and adjacent wetlands, it would be crucial to reverse this trend.
The sudden floods in March 2011 surprised everyone but then no wonder if construction on former wetlands obliterated this natural phenomeon that water seeks its familiar path. There was a huge damage created in areas which were former wetlands (7 Mill. Euros).
Documentation by Nikos Kasseris
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