Wind Farms Threaten Tourism Development, Warns Peloponnese Hoteliers Head

Large-scale wind turbines and fish farms can cause irreparable damage to the natural environment, biodiversity, and the landscapes of destinations with special natural beauty—elements crucial for developing a sustainable ecotourism system, according to Peloponnese Tourism Organization (PTO) President Konstantinos Marinakos.

Speaking at the 10th Global Conference of Panarcadian Federations in Tripoli, Peloponnese, in late July, Marinakos spoke of the large-scale wind farms being developed across Greece over the past few years.

“Along with auxiliary projects, such as the construction of roads and power transmission networks, these developments degrade our cultural surroundings and the biodiversity of the areas where they are installed, essentially turning them into industrial parks,” Marinakos said.

Moreover, Marinakos noted that many areas where industrial wind farms are planned are adjacent to regions included in the European Natura 2000 Network.

“The State has a legal obligation, deriving from both national and Community legislation, to take protective measures (Directive 92/43/EC), an obligation which the Greek state systematically fails to fulfill,” he emphasized.

Archive photo of Peloponnese Tourism Organization (PTO) President Konstantinos Marinakos.

PTO’s president also referred to plans for expanding fish farms, which currently cover an area of 9,800 metric acres at sea, to 240,000 metric acres across Greece.

“The eight areas where the greatest expansion is planned will each host facilities two to three times larger than those currently operating throughout Greece,” he said.

Marinakos stressed that such large-scale projects would undermine the primary, and often the only, development potential of significant geographical units, such as the Peloponnese, which rely on sustainable tourism. “This could have serious implications for the local, economic, and social environment of these destinations,¨ he said.

Konstantinos Marinakos is also the vice president of the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (HHF) and a professor at the University of West Attica.