More Info about the ecosystem in Limnos island-Salt lakes

The area surrounding Surf Camp  Keros  forms a quite unique landscape, featuring rare sand dunes, wetlands, natural salt lakes, and astonishing flora and fauna.

You can take a walk and observe very rare flowers, rabbits, flamingos and other birds, all of which are protected under the Natura 2000 program.

Please be discrete when observing, make sure to take photos, and please, leave behind only your footsteps.

More Info about the ecosystem

In recent years, scientists of the environmental organization WWF HELLAS (Worldwide Fund for Nature) were surprised registering in Lemnos not only the largest in extent wetlands of Mediterranean, but also the best-preserved.

The most important wetlands of the island
The most important wetlands on the island are actually very close to Surf Club Keros! Make sure you take some time and visit these natural wonders.

These wetlands are the cluster of lakes of Alyki, Chortarolimni and Asprolimni, which cover an area of 14,000,000m2 approximately and is incorporated in the network NATURA 2000. The area of these three lakes constitutes an ideal environment for a great number of plants and animal, many times indigenous and rare. Nowadays, it seems to be hard to find such a good combination of salt meadows and sand dunes, without the devastation caused by human activity. Too many migratory birds come in the area for wintering, while there have been recorded till 4,000.

Alyki
This lake lies in the area of the village Kontopouli, its expanse surpasses 6,300,000m2, is salty and communicates with sea through a small canal. In winter, it is filled with sea water, which is evaporated in summer, leaving behind a salt of excellent quality.
Chortarolimni
It is a brackish lake of 2,300,000m2, which belongs to the administrative district area of the village Kalliopi. It is completely dry in summer, but the rest of the seasons it looks like a blue painting in green background, with hundreds singings of Herons, Ruddy Shelducks, Black-winged Stilts and Pied Avocets, which give their own fight for survival.

Asprolimni
It lies between Alyki and Chortarolimni, is characterized by high salt content, has an expanse of 500,000m2 and is dry in summer.

Biologists support that stagnant plains and mainly the basins “tigania” and “thermastres” of salt-marshes, where sea water is “baked” and prepared for salt coagulation, constitute particular areas, while various animal and plant organisms are developed there.

So, the two lakes of the island are overrun by Wild geese, Garganeys, Whooper swans, Herons, Halcyons, Glossy Ibis, Pelicans, Gulls, Terns, Grebes, Moorhens and dense swarms of Pink Flamingos.

Endangered Species

Phoenicopterus: the Pink Flamingo
It is an exotic pink coloring wading bird, which use its peculiar beak as a strainer and feeds its young ones with a liquid like milk. Listen to their flight and admire their great pink plumage, high legs, height, longneck and particular shape of their head. Those are considered to be the most beautiful and imposing “visitors” of Lemnos, in hospitable wetlands of which they’re looking for a shelter every year.

Ruddy Shelduck
It is a duck which resembles to a goose. It comes from Asia and constitutes a species threatened by extinction.

Lesser Kestrel
It is a kestrel that isn’t afraid of people and is in danger of paying this forfeit of its disappearance. It comes in Lemnos in spring and at the end of August flies southerly to Sahara for wintering.