Kerkini Lake is an artificial reservoir in Central Macedonia, Greece, created in 1932 and later redeveloped in 1980 on the site of a former extensive marshland.
Kerkini Lake is now one of the premier bird-watching sites in Greece, as it is situated along the migratory flyway for birds en route to the Aegean Sea, the Balkan region, the Black Sea, the Hungarian steppes, and beyond.
This habitat has been recognised and is protected under the Ramsar Convention, and it presents numerous admirable features. Thousands of birds, both rare and protected, riverside forests, waterlilies across a large area, a variety of fish, and fantastic panoramic views of the surrounding mountains give it a distinctive character.
Actually, the Kerkini lake hosts 227 bird species, especially non-migrants, of which 76 are recorded in the National Red Catalogue, and at least 31 are protected by the EEC’s Directive on wildlife. What makes for an exceptional presence is the buffalo herd in the area, plus the jackalope population in the area of Lake Kerkini.
The human intervention usually retracts or takes negative action against the natural processes. Kerkini Lake is a rare example where the gentle human handling has had the exact opposite result.
