Νομοθεσία

Shells are more than just an ornament or a souvenir, they are vital to the survival of other sea creatures as well as to the environment. Animals die to sell beautiful shells! The shell is the outer, hard, protective shell of marine invertebrates with an external skeleton, such as the forearms and generally various other species of mollusks, of which it is part of their body. Coral formations on the rocky bottom of the seas are a relative example of formations on the seabed. In land invertebrates, an example of a similar shell is that of snails.

Shells are an important part of coastal ecosystems: they provide materials for bird nests, a house surface or attachment for algae, sponges and a host of other microorganisms. The fish use them to hide from predators and the crabs use them as temporary shelters. Removing large shells and shell fragments changes the rate of coastal erosion. This has serious implications for coastal populations, especially in conjunction with global warming and rising sea levels, each shell having some ecological role. A 2015 study documented the results of this harmful crop. Vincent Nijman, a professor of anthropology at Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom, has investigated the illegal trade in Indonesian protected shells. He found that poaching of these protected shells was uncontrollable. “We are talking about a large-scale commercial trade where the shells are collected by active fishing (diving, cages, etc.) and where entire parts of the ocean floor are emptied.”

Buy shells from stores just do not do it!

The shells are in excellent condition because they were collected alive. Did you know that hermit crabs depend on empty spiral shells for their survival? These sea creatures have to find new homes when they get too big for their current shell. If they can not find bigger, they will die from exposure or become prey for predators. Small fish and octopuses also use shells for shelter and protection. Watch this amazing video of an octopus using a plastic cup instead of a shell for protection. Imagine what would happen if we continued to rob ocean animals of the tools they desperately needed to survive. And it is not just the protection of marine life. A large number of birds use shell parts to build nests.

It is very important not to remove anything from the beach. The pan-European Natura 2000 network of protected areas, the largest nature conservation network in the world, recognizes that people and nature perform best when they coexist harmoniously. The protection of these areas is essential because they are oases of life. Elafonissi in Crete is an elongated peninsula, which often “breaks” in two places with water giving the impression that it is a separate island. The extinction of careta careta turtles and many rare animals that nest on the island result in a strict ban on removing any plants, animals and sand from the area. In Europe, parts belonging to the Natura Protected Areas, Special Protection Areas (SPA) for Birds, are defined in Directive 79/409 / EC “on the conservation of wild birds”. Exotic beaches with white sand and turquoise waters, reminiscent of the Caribbean, are formed on both sides of the peninsula. The sand is pink in many places, responsible for the broken shells and specifically the tiny crustaceans called Foraminifera, which when they complete their life cycle and die leave behind their crimson shells that remain in the water and are crushed in the sand. which in turn acquires this striking hue.

These areas are full of dunes with sand lilies and cedars. The sand dunes have been internationally designated as forest protected beaches. These are dynamic and sensitive ecosystems. Characteristic of the beaches of Lafonisi are the “low moving sand dunes” -with loose sandy substrate and sparse vegetation- they develop at the point immediately after the zone where the wave reaches. In these areas appear the Ammophila (Ammophila arenaria), the Thorn (Eryngium maritimum) and a remarkable population of the species Pancratium maritumum, the endangered “Lily of the Sea”. Plant communities with these characteristics (sand, lilies, etc.) are extremely sensitive.

The stones help protect against coastal erosion and also act as a breakwater for flood protection. With thousands of people flocking to the beaches all summer, even taking a few boulders could have a big impact on the ecosystem over time, imagine everyone did!

At Lalaria beach in Skiathos, tourists were arrested for collecting white beach stones as souvenirs. In 2018, an information sign was placed on the ships that are active in the execution of cruise ships on the specific beach, with the indication “take a picture not a pebble-save Lalaria beach”, in order to emphasize the prohibition of taking-removing the characteristic pebbles that are created of course only in that area. The problem of this excessive and unreasonable tourist exploitation is not only Greek. Hundreds of tourists landing on piles of rocks are landing in remote and previously deceptive places, such as Scotland, according to the Guardian, and a tourist has been jailed for collecting shells on a Florida beach. The fashion of stone stacking, of these piles, is done just for a nice photo for Instagram.

Legislation

Getting shells, stones or sand at home is often illegal, the fines are huge and you could even go to jail. More and more countries are making the transportation of shells illegal, sandblasting and stoning. Costa Rica, for example, bans the removal of any shells, and the Philippines has created a long list of “forbidden shells.” An example of this crime is a couple from France who filled 14 plastic bottles with about 40 kg (about 40 kg) of white sand from a beach in Sardinia, Italy. The couple was arrested and faces up to six years in prison and pay a hefty fine of up to 3,000 euros for stealing beach sand. The couple claimed that they did not know that taking sand from the beach was illegal, but the authorities there claimed that all the beaches have signs in myriad languages ​​that explicitly state that taking sand or shells is illegal.

In the past, some people went so far as to sell sand in jars from Balos and Elafonissi, making the word “scandalous” seem a bit like a description of their act. There are now signs that inform that Law 1650/86 prohibits sand extraction from protected areas. In Greece, important natural areas are recognized as protected either through their characterization based on the current national legislation, or by their enshrinement in the framework of international conventions ratified by the country and international or European initiatives. In many cases, there is overlap between protected areas at national, European and international level.

The National System of Protected Areas, according to Law 3937/2011 “Conservation of biodiversity and other provisions”, aims to effectively protect biodiversity and their other ecological values. It consists of all the areas that belong to one or more of the categories of article 19 of law 1650/1986 (Government Gazette 160 AD), according to its provisions. According to paragraph 2 of article 4 of law 3937/2011,

“Land, wetland, marine or mixed areas, individual elements or sets of nature and landscape, can be objects of protection and conservation due to their ecological, biological, geological, geomorphological, generally scientific or aesthetic importance”

but also through

Υ.Α.42279 / 1938 – ΦΕΚ Β-267 / 30.11.1938 Regarding the definition of areas, from which the extraction and taking of sand, sandy soil, etc. is prohibited.

Do not collect shellfish in National Parks or protected areas.

Do not take dead starfish, sea urchins or dead corals!

Do not take anything from the beaches except photos