Environmental organizations, citizen movements, and the Network for Sustainable Cyclades unite their voices in expressing their opposition to the licensing of the Special Spatial Development Plan for Strategic Investment (ESCHASE) in Ios, at the location “Koumbara-Diakofto-Faros”, on a 566-acre property.
The investment is promoted by the company “105 Tourist and Technical Real Estate Exploitation Company” and concerns the creation of a large tourist unit in an area outside the plan, which is characterized by the Council of State (CoS) as a “sensitive coastal ecosystem of a small island”.
Despite the changes made to the original plan, including the reduction of the area to be built, the 2022 case law of the Council of State remains clear: the investment constitutes an extensive intervention in an intact and undeveloped area, while the investor’s spatial planning report cannot replace the urban plan, which is currently under preparation.
Voices of concern for the future of the Cyclades
The Network for Sustainable Cyclades, together with the Citizens’ Network of Ios, the Hellenic Society for Culture and Environment and other environmental organizations, underlines that such investments endanger the very identity of the Cyclades. “The anarchic construction and the prevalence of large-scale tourist projects lead to the degradation of the common property of the islands and the loss of their character,” the Network states.
The concern is not only focused on the direct impacts on the environment but also on the overall development model followed by the islands. The Network argues that the one-dimensional focus on mass tourism intensifies pressures on natural resources, degrades the landscape, and alters local culture. It points out that the sustainability of tourism development must be based on a model that takes into account the scale and uniqueness of each island.
Call for participatory development of a new development model
Recognizing that tourism is an important component of the Cyclades economy, the organizations are calling for a change of course in favor of a different development model. A model that will not be based exclusively on the number of arrivals and large tourism investments, but on the promotion of local resources, culture, and the natural environment through soft tourism schemes.
As they note, tourism development must ensure not only economic benefits but also social justice and environmental protection, serving the well-being and well-being of both visitors and permanent residents. “Experience tourism, the promotion of cultural heritage, the protection of nature, and the preservation of the unique architecture and morphology of the islands must be the core of any new planning,” they emphasize.
Appeal to regional councilors
Based on the above, the Network for Sustainable Cyclades calls on the regional councilors of the South Aegean not to approve this specific investment proposal. It calls on them, on the contrary, to work in collaboration with the local community, the business community, universities, and environmental organizations to co-form a new sustainable development model for the Cyclades.
“Our islands cannot bear any more burdens. “We need a future based on balance, respect for nature and the needs of the people who live here,” the Network’s announcement concludes.
