The phryganic ecosystems of Rhodes and their protection: A socioeconomic approach

The phryganic, along with those of evergreen broadleaved and the coniferous forests, are the three main Mediterranean ecosystems. Their importance is exceptionally great as exceptionally great are also the levels of human activity and disturbance in the areas where they grow. In Greece, for the reason that the phryganic ecosystems grow mostly in coastal and insular areas where there is a lack of land, this pressure has led to a great demand for the areas they occupy, for construction, industrial and other uses, a fact that creates the respective political-economic conditions which shape the negative regime of their protection. Therefore, by the voting of the appropriate legal frame it was tried their gradual “release”, their cession or entering into the land bank and their use for other non-forestry purposes, ignoring their importance and depleting the local societies and in general the humanity from the goods, the services and their functions. However, this fact makes skeptical the specialists, the nongovernmental environment-friendly organizations and the citizens. It was found that in Rhodes the phryganic ecosystems show a great biodiversity at all levels, they also provide besides the goods, numerous other unique and vital functions and services for the support of life on the planet whereas the ruling legal frame is almost non-existent today and does not protect them sufficiently.