- A protected wetland in Kalathas was turned into a parking space.
- Bulldozers, gravel, and “creative landscaping” included.
- Locals wonder who will stop the slow burial of the stream.
- Environmentalists call it suffocation by bureaucracy.
Kalathas has a new tourist attraction this season — a parking lot with a view of what used to be a wetland. The Kalathas Environment Group now asks the obvious question: “Who exactly will stop the burial of the Kalathas stream?”
Because when Crete runs out of beaches to concrete, we start paving over the wetlands, too.
The story began earlier this year when a neighboring field — right next to a protected wetland (yes, protected by presidential decree, no less) — was mysteriously “elevated” to the level of the nearby road. How? The old-fashioned way: ten truckloads of rubble, bricks, plaster, cement blocks, and whatever else was lying around.
Then came the bulldozer, the gravel, and the fencing. Voilà — an unofficial parking lot, open for summer business. Because nothing says “eco-friendly island” like a parking space over what used to be the lungs of the coastline.
When Laws Meet Bulldozers
The wetland at the mouth of the Kalathorema stream isn’t just a pretty puddle. It’s officially listed as a Landscape of Outstanding Natural Beauty — the kind of place where you expect herons, not hatchbacks. Yet, while the paperwork says “protected,” the bulldozers clearly didn’t get the memo.
For the record, this same area once served as grazing land and part of the stream’s natural bed. Today, it’s a gravel pad with a fence, conveniently close to the beach and the road.
The WWF, which keeps the Kalathas wetland on its national list, diplomatically notes that the stream “has suffered significant alteration.” Translation: we’ve turned a functioning ecosystem into a parking annex.
Environmental Studies, Now Optional
Melina Kotti, a professor at the Hellenic Mediterranean University who studies the site, says things have gone downhill fast — “rapid degradation within five years,” to be exact. The cause? People and their love for “a little improvement.”
She says the continuous dumping of inert materials has choked the wetland — literally. The water can’t breathe, the reeds can’t grow, and the frogs probably packed up and left for better zoning.
The Cretan Formula: Where There’s Mud, There’s Profit
The broader area, stretching from the gorge to the beach, has been under siege for years — illegal dumping, construction waste, sewage pipes, and a massive tourist complex on the hillside for good measure. Because on Crete, when you say “protected area,” some people hear “potential investment opportunity.”
Locals joke that you can now identify wetlands by how many SUVs are parked on them. Environmentalists, however, are less amused.
“Kalathas is being slowly suffocated,” says one member of the Environment Group. “And we’re the ones tightening the belt.”
The Future Is Paved. Literally.
Nobody knows who authorized this makeshift parking lot — or if anyone did. But it worked all summer, hosted happy cars, and is already expanding for next season. The bulldozers are back, shoveling fresh loads of rubble to the east side, because nothing says “planning” like dumping early.
Meanwhile, the wetland that once filtered water, sheltered birds, and cooled the coastline is gasping under the weight of progress.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Kalathas now has one of the few wetlands in Greece where you can park your car directly on top of environmental negligence.
So, next summer, when you come to Chania and look for parking, just follow the frogs — they’ll be crossing the street, looking for somewhere cleaner.
