Alonnisos Marine Park

National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades
IUCN category II (national park)
Beach in Alonnisos
Location	Greece, Europe
Nearest city	Volos
Coordinates	39°18′26″N 24°08′51″E / 39.307100°N 24.147606°E / 39.307100; 24.147606Coordinates: 39°18′26″N 24°08′51″E / 39.307100°N 24.147606°E / 39.307100; 24.147606
Area	2.260 km2 (0.873 sq mi)
Established	May 16, 1992
Governing body	joint venture between ministries

The National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades (Greek: Εθνικό Θαλάσσιο Πάρκο Αλοννήσου Βορείων Σποράδων, ΕΘΠΑΒΣ) was founded by Presidential Decree on May 16, 1992. It was the first of its kind in Greece, and is currently the largest marine protected area in Europe (approximately 2.260 km²). Besides the sea area, the park includes the island of Alonnisos, six smaller islands (Peristera, Kyra Panagia, Gioura, Psathoura, Piperi and Skantzoura), as well as 22 uninhabited islets and rocky outcrops. It is located in the region of the Northern Sporades Islands, in the northern Aegean Sea. There is one other marine park in Greece, namely Zakynthos Marine Park.

Thomas Schultze-Westrum, a German zoologist and maker of animal documentaries, after a series of exploratory missions to the islands in 1976, noted the great ecological and biological value for the first time and proposed the creation of protected area. Six years later, the local fishermen of Alonnisos Island accepted, after consultation, the prospect of establishing a park in the region and were committed to help with its protection. In 1986 the Magnesia Prefecture Office issued the first order to protect the region, followed by the decisions of the Ministries of Environmental Affairs, Agriculture and Merchant Navy. The newly formed Mom NGO, composed of young marine biologists, in 1990 set up a permanent team field in the area of the reserve and acquired the research vessel IFAW-ODYSSEAS to aid to the systematic monitoring of the population of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), which remained so until 2006. A year later they established in Alonnisos the first seal health centre for the species in the Mediterranean.

The presidential decree, that was issued to clearly demarcate the protected zones and protection measures, overlooked the creation of a local Reserve Management Agency. MOm, aided by the European Commission, initiated the reserve's support and monitor program. This action is implemented with the local operators of the high-speed craft Alonnisos and the first few years in close cooperation with the Fishing Cooperative of Alonnisos. Following the environmental study that lasted several years issued by a Joint Ministerial Decision which set out the composition of the board of the management agency of the marine park, the overall responsibility for managing the reserve passed to the new management agency. MOm participates as a full member of the board, the Operational Management Council, however, without a clearly defined plan of operation, with lack of funding and some unfortunate choice of a president of the board for the next three years remained ineffective. In 2007, some funding by the Third EU Community Support Framework initiated the first steps of operation. The current situation is critical, since the choices to be made and management actions to be implemented will determine both the credibility of the new management agency and the protection of the coastal region.