Lake Kerkini National Park - Greece

Lake Kerkini National Park is located on the north-west part of Serres Prefecture, in the region of Central Macedonia in Greece. Its unique wetland has been declared as National Park according to Ramsar Convention and it is one out of ten wetlands of International Importance of Greece. It is a Natura 2000 site coded GR1260010, GR1260008 and GR1260001. The man’s intervention caused the formation of this place. In 1932 the first dam was constructed in the waters of river Strymonas and gradually lake Kerkini took shape. The riparian plantations consisting of riparian forests of wild willows, the suspended water-lilies expanded in a surface of thousands hectares, the fish high diversity, the buffalos swimming in lake’s calm water and the great mountainous areas of Belles and Krousia give a unique grace to this land. The lake offers the ideal conditions for bird watching. It is one of the best places in Europe for natural watching of about 300 rare and protected bird species that live and breed here. It is no coincidence that many scientists and amateurs from around the world visit us every year for their research.