Messolonghi-Etoliko lagoons complex

The ecological dimension of the Messolonghi-Etoliko lagoon area began to be acknowledged in the 70s. Firstly, with the Ramsar Convention, it was integrated in the aquatic areas of international significance as a habitat for aquatic birds or shorebirds, while furthermore, with the integration in the Natura 2000 network it was included in the habitat of European interest and in the important for birds areas.

Near the lagoon a puzzle of forms and formations develops, a variety of habitats that succeed each other in harmonious continuity. Open sea, estuarine systems, marshy areas, hilly and mountainous areas, including the magnificent gorge of Kleisoura, classified as an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" and the forest of Fraxos classified as a "Monument of Nature". The dominant one, however, is the Messolonghi - Etoliko lagoon complex, with an area of 150,000 hectares, making it the largest in our country.
Near and within the lagoon a great variety of plants and animals with the intense presence of birds, common and rare, fascinate with the harmony of their movement, their colours, their voices and their beneficial contribution to the balance of nature. The eastern imperial eagle of Kleisoura, the avocets and the greater flamingos of the salt marshes, the black-winged stilts, the Eurasian spoonbills are some of the species that live alongside us.