Kerkini buffalo meat
in Lake Kerkini...
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the marvellous lake Kerkini - the history of the lake - the ecosystem
The marvellous Lake Kerkini...
The waters of the lake encapsulate a whole world, which was created and will live on so long as the lake exists. The marvellous Lake Kerkini. People, animals and plants live side by side, support each other, are interdependent and complementary. Such is nature.
Located 45 km west of Serres, near the village of Lithotopos, every year the lake attracts a large number of tourists and sightseers who visit it to admire the unique landscapes, as well as the rare animals, plants, and birds, in one of the most important wetlands in Greece or in Europe, protected by the Ramsar Convention, by the Greek legislation and by the EU Directive 79/409.
the story of the lake...
Lake Kerkini is artificial and it was created in the place where the Boutkovo marsh, the remnant of the ancient Lake Prasiada, was situated. Work began by the Monks-Ulen company in 1928-1936 and was completed by the Greek state. It was a huge undertaking, because to complete the lake it was necessary to create levees, build a dam and drain the adjacent Lake Ahinou, while irrigation ditches were dug, along with a network of channels for the irrigation of fields and the holding back of seasonal streams in spate.
The result breathed life into the area. Apart from a reservoir, it created a splendid wetland, which became a sanctuary for many animals and plants.
the ecosystem...
In the woodlands and around the lake, 276 species of bird have been recorded, 68% of the species in our country. Of these, 70 species are considered rare or endangered and are protected by the European Union: for instance, the great white pelican, the Dalmatian pelican, the pygmy cormorant, the night heron, the spoonbill, the glossy ibis, the black stork, and all the herons of the Ardeidae family, such as the little egret, the grey heron, and the great white egret.
Many subsequent modifications have resulted in a lowering of the level of the water and a contraction in the area of the lake; however, the beauty of the place, the quality of the ecosystem, and the fertility of the substrate remain, providing a habitat for over thirty species of fish, including the lake carp, the eel, the crucian carp and the wels catfish.
Amphibians and reptiles, as well as mammals such as jackals, wolves, wild cats, hares, foxes, ferrets, deer and badgers are able to live there in their natural environment.
Here one can discover herds of the Greek water buffalo. Once it was threatened with extinction, but thanks to the efforts of local people, it has not merely been saved, but has revived livestock farming in the area.
