Summary/History
With borders to the east on the Aegean sea and to the west on the Ionion sea in the Mediterranean Greece possesses very extensive coastal and marine habitats which are important for numerous seabird species. BirdLife's Partner in Greece The Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) has carried out research into seabirds for 15 years and has developed the Hellenic Seabird Database containing GIS-linked population and breeding data for 6 seabird species. In 2007 HOS began the

National priorities
o Completion of marine IBA designation
o Studies on seabird ecology
o Assesment of the distribution of seabird colonies, their population size and the assessment of the distribution and activities of seabirds at sea
o Assessment of all the major threats to greek seabirds
o Strengthn continuing projects and start new ones on the interaction between birds and fisheries in Greece

Government's support/relevant policy
Relevant government ministries are currently supporting the HOS efforts for the designation of marine IBAs. Once the marine IBA inventory is produced by HOS it will be evaluated by the Ministry for Environment as possible components of the Natura 2000 network. In 2009 HOS contributed to the production of an assessment study for designating new and updating existing SPAS. Also in 2009 HOS and partners submitted a new LIFE+ application to expand and detail the marine IBAs in the Northern Cyclades archipelago named Please see policy tab for list of agreements that this country is party to.

References
o Web site: http://www.ornithologiki.gr/en/seabirds/index.php