The Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace has decided to subject the project concerning the diving park at Cape Agios Antonios in Thassos to Standard Environmental Commitments.
The terms state, among other things, that installation work cannot be carried out during the breeding season of the Seagull, i.e. from the beginning of February until the end of June, while in order not to destroy or fragment the habitat of marine vegetation with Posidonia (Posidonion oceanicae), ecological anchorages should be used for the proposed vessels, as the marine area of ??the proposed diving park has a large area of ??Posidonia meadows.
At the same time, the proposed beacons should be placed outside of posidonia meadows and at a sufficient distance from them, in order to ensure the integrity of the habitat, and the intensity of the beacons’ lighting should be adapted to the minimum requirements of the applicable legislation, in order to avoid disturbing the species.
Furthermore, the mooring of boats and floating equipment should be done exclusively at special docks, which are appropriately marked and whose placement is done with the minimum possible disturbance to the underwater environment, while there cannot be any type of permanent construction development on or in contact with the land area adjacent to the marine area of ??the project for the protection of the Common Shag.
Also, it is prohibited to disturb the species found in the marine area of ??the diving park (e.g., touching, petting, feeding, etc.), it is prohibited to kill wildlife species, destroy nests and eggs, and it is prohibited to use floodlights in outdoor areas during the night.
In addition, it is prohibited to introduce any alien plant or marine organism for the needs of the project.
The construction and coloring materials of the chains, floating boats, light beacons, and small boat moorings must not include substances that are considered dangerous or harmful to the marine and aquatic environment in general.
Regarding the practical scope of the project, a Code of Good Diving Practice for the Park must be drawn up by the project operator. During the first year of operation of the diving park, a Diving Impact Monitoring Program should be conducted, which will be used to assess the state of the system, with the aim of making decisions regarding changes that need to be implemented in the way and rules of operation of the diving park.
Finally, the project operator should systematically record the diving traffic of the diving park on a daily, monthly and annual basis, such as the number of dives/unit of time and the diving route followed.
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