Archipelagos, Institute of Marine Conservation

History

Since 1998, Archipelagos has been committed to the scientific research and conservation of the marine and terrestrial environments of the Greek seas and islands, as well as of the NE Mediterranean region overall. Archipelagos’ work focuses on the combination of multi-disciplinary scientific research with efficient conservation work, in which the local communities share an active part.

Advantages of studying here

For over a decade, Archipelagos has been providing opportunities for students, recent graduates and scientists from EU, USA and other international universities, to acquire multidisciplinary, practical work experience through work placements and field courses, within the framework of its research and conservation work.
Since 2001, our educational activities, have hosted over 1000 participants from around the world.

Areas of specialisation

The work of Archipelagos is divided into two main fields:
Marine wildlife conservation: covering fields such as marine mammals, fisheries, coastal ecosystems, oceanographic research, as well as water quality and pollution assessment.
Terrestrial wildlife conservation: covering fields such as island flora and fauna focusing on endangered species, the development of the Aegean Seed Bank for the preservation of local varieties of agricultural plants, and pollution and human impact assessments and management of priority habitats.
At Archipelagos we use the scientific knowledge we gain to:
a) collaborate with local authorities and communities to develop and apply, pilot management and conservation schemes, to protect habitats and species of the Aegean Sea – schemes that can later be applied in other regions of the Greek seas and the NE Mediterranean overall;
b) launch environmental actions and campaigns at local, national and EU levels; and
c) inform local communities, the wider Greek public and tourists how to better preserve and actively protect their natural resources.
We also directly work to stop human behaviours that are destructive to the Aegean, such as illegal fishing practices, explosions at sea, waste dumping, maritime pollution, erosive overgrazing and other threats on biodiversity.
Archipelagos’ work also focuses on environmental awareness raising. To this end we produce and distribute awareness and educational materials (web-based, videos, animations, posters and flyers).

Description

Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to researching and defending the biodiversity of the Greek seas and islands, as well as the NE Mediterranean overall.
Since 1998, Archipelagos has focused on a combination of multidisciplinary scientific research and efficient conservation work in which local communities play an active part. This cooperation creates a strategic foundation that enables and strengthens the activities of Archipelagos at the local, national and European level, allowing us to protect aquatic and terrestrial life against ever-increasing human factors.