Goals & Objectives:

The aim of this project is to acquire, develop and organize information on the ecological and historical resources surrounding an ancient network of hiking trails crisscrossing the Aegean island of Naxos (Greece).

Theoretical Justification, Social Benefit, or Significance:

In recent years, there have been ongoing efforts to promote sustainable and ecologically sensitive travel in the Aegean Sea (Greece), a region that is increasingly experiencing the impacts of unfettered mass tourism. The islands in general, and Naxos in particular, offer tremendous opportunities for hiking through a beautiful, topographically diverse landscape deeply imbued in myth and 5000+ years of continuous human history. Because the island is located in the middle of a major global biodiversity hotspot it offers not just tremendous levels of biological diversity but also significant numbers of endemic species that occur only there and nowhere else on earth. The island is also crisscrossed by a network of ancient stone-carved walking paths that have been recently opened for hikers. Recognized for the outstanding value of its natural, historical and cultural resources, Naxos has been voted repeatedly as one of the top 10 islands worldwide to visit. Despite these rich resources however, hiking tourism remains underdeveloped, largely because little information is publicly available to inform and guide visitors. Lack of knowledge on the ecosystems, species, as well as on the culture and history of the island, has emerged as one of the major obstacles in developing sustainable ecotourism in the region. Developing this green network of traditional paths is also a means to promote sustainable and ecologically sensible development and support the impoverished and underserved communities in the area that are hail from a beautiful, yet agriculturally unproductive landscape. This project is expected to provide the missing last missing piece of information that will facilitate ecotourism and promote sustainable development in the area. In the summer of 2022 a SEAS MS project team completed the first half of the hiking paths on the island, and this project would complete the existing paths.

Specific Activities & Duration:

A combination of approaches will be necessary to ensure the success of this project. First, ecological, but also cultural information needs to be gathered, mostly from bibliographic resources, but also complemented by short field surveys on the island. GIS maps of the path network and surrounding resources/landmarks need to be produced. Such maps will be then be shared with regional stakeholders and decision makers and used to advance environmental policy and planning in the area. Eventually, this information needs to be organized, formatted and ultimately disseminated through a variety of social media and public media, internet sources, as well as conventionally published materials that can be shared with visitors, locals and school children in the region. To address issues of environmental justice, communication needs to also be organized so at to reach even the most disadvantaged inhabitants of the area.

Integrative Approach:

This project is fundamentally intradisciplinary as it requires students to bring along a diversity of backgrounds/skills ranging from field ecology and conservation biology, over GIS capabilities, to communication and education, as well as environmental planning and sustainable development. To succeed student members will need to work together in a team. In addition students will work in the field on the islands with the two project advisors (Foufopoulos, Schueller) and local inhabitants. They will also get involved with the local NGOs (CPF, EE) and the Municipality of Naxos that will host the group over the summer ‘23 field season.