The island (history, nature, food…)
Nature: plants and animals
Sea junipers, sea lilies, rare endemic plants, dolphins and turtles: the nature protected by Natura 2000.
Elafonisos is part of the Natura 2000 network as an area of special nature. Some 220 plant species have been recorded here, some very rare, and dozens of animal species.
The dunes
On the beaches, where the waves reach, low moving dunes form. Marram grass, sea holly and the sea daffodil grow there; the sea daffodil flowers white in late summer and is threatened with extinction. Do not pick its flowers and do not walk on the dunes.
The sea junipers
On the sand the sea juniper dominates, one of the rarest trees of the Aegean. You will find them around the village, at Lefki, at Simos and Sarakiniko, at Kato Nisi and at Panagia.
Plants found nowhere else
On the western sands grows Jagel’s soapwort, a plant found nowhere else in the world and one of the most threatened in the Mediterranean. A kind of catchfly that carries the island’s name is endemic too. On the seabed, wide meadows of Posidonia seagrass, especially around Pavlopetri, keep the water clear.
The animals
On land live hares, wild rabbits, badgers, hedgehogs, tortoises and the Greek lizard, endemic to the Peloponnese. Migrating birds pass in spring and autumn on the Africa – Crete – Kythira – Peloponnese route; falcons hunt over the rocks, and at Panagia the gulls keep the fishermen company.
At sea, bottlenose dolphins often appear following the caiques, and the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta has been seen nesting near Lake Strongyli. In the past the Mediterranean monk seal also lived on the rocks around the island.
