Artificial Lake Kerkini

Near the border between Greece, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, an nutrient-rich, freshwater reservoir in an alluvial plain between mountain massifs, supporting extensive beds of floating vegetation and subject to wide variations in water level. The site includes mudflats, seasonally flooded forest, and sand banks, and supports the largest mixed nesting colony of waterbirds in Greece. Numerous species of waterbirds occur in winter and during spring and autumn migration periods, including several globally threatened or endangered species. Human activities include silviculture, fishing, intensive livestock grazing, irrigated agriculture, and illegal hunting and tree felling. The site has suffered changes in ecological character due to water management projects and increasing nutrient-enrichment. For these reasons it was placed on the Montreux Record in 1990. Ramsar site no. 58.