Replanting underwater forests to restore the Greek islands

BarcelonaRising temperatures, human pressure, overfishing and pollution are leading to Mother Nostrum at a point of no return. There are many scientific voices warning.

At a an initiative similar to those that exist in Catalan and Balearic waters, On the Greek island of Gyaros in the Saronic Gulf, a group of scientists from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research are working on a project of extreme difficulty and no small importance: repopulating the rocks of the coastal seabed with cuttings of Cystoseira, a rapidly disappearing species of brown algae that sustains biodiversity. Reuters photographer Stelios Misinas dived with them to show us, in detail, the laborious process they use to collect, cultivate, and finally replant the algae.