The project is a specific field-research contribution to a wider study of wetlands in the Attika Hydrographic Region, coordinated by the Hellenic Ornithological Society, an environmental and scientific NGO active in Greece since 1982. The specific project is the first phase of a cooperation between this NGO and HCMR focused on supporting research and conservation of the biodiversity of remnant small wetland areas in Attika. IIW-HCMR will focus on a biological inventory of aquatic fauna (with emphasis on ichthyofauna and avifauna) and wetland habitat types in the most important wetland of Attika.
The project will include the following: 1) systematic study of the ichthyofauna, with an emphasis on the endemic freshwater fishes at the Vravrona wetland (this will include fish sampling work four times per year in all available habitat types), 2) raw-data field survey collection of avifaunal use of the wetlands (employing a rapid point-count method), 3) systematic survey of the present environmental state of the wetland sites and their habitats, including the cartography of most important anthropogenic pressures and a conservation evaluation and finally 4) popularized report on the ichthyofauna in order to support the publication of leaflets and information signs for public awareness.