- Sintiki Municipal Council approved a plot of land in Mandraki, Kerkini, for an eco-observatory
- The project is part of Interreg Greece–Bulgaria 2021–2027
- Implementation partner: OFYPEKA (Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency)
- Extra actions include a digital interactive museum, a digital bird guide with AR, and education programs
- Sintiki’s project budget: €606,110.40
- Kerkini hosts 275+ bird species, including Dalmatian pelicans
Some places do not need development. They need protection with decent planning.
That is the direction Kerkini seems to be heading, after the Sintiki Municipal Council approved the allocation of a rural land plot in the Mandraki area for the construction of an eco-observatory—a project tied to the Interreg Greece–Bulgaria 2021–2027.
The initiative comes under the action titled “Birdway,” aiming to strengthen protection for local birdlife and biodiversity, while also upgrading the region’s eco-tourism profile in a way that feels sensible, not aggressive. The eco-observatory will be implemented by OFYPEKA, Greece’s Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency, which will act as a project partner.
In plain terms: the lake gets a better viewing spot, visitors get a better experience, and the birds get less disturbance. This is the rare triangle where everyone wins.
Kerkini Is Not a Lake You Pass By
If you have never been to Lake Kerkini, let me translate the press release into real life.
Kerkini is not the kind of place you visit for a quick photo and a coffee. It is a significant European wetland—one of those landscapes that feels alive, busy, and suspiciously confident in its beauty. There are days here when the air looks full. Not with fog. With wings.
The region is home to more than 275 bird species. Of these, 76 are listed in the National Red Catalogue, and at least 31 are protected under the EEC’s Directive on wildlife. Birdwatchers may also observe rare and threatened ones such as the Dalmatian pelican, which has the calm arrogance of a prehistoric creature that knows it has no predators. You can watch pelicans glide over the water like heavy, silent aircraft. You can watch herons stand still long enough to make you question whether they are real. And in winter, Kerkini turns into a moving drama of migration and survival.
The new eco-observatory at Mandraki is designed to support this kind of visitor: the one who does not want noise, selfies, or speed—only a good view, a quiet lens, and time.
Kerkini also has one presence that visitors never forget, even when they came only for birds: the water buffalo herds. They move slowly through the wetland like dark, living monuments, perfectly at home in the reeds and shallows. Add to that the local wildlife most tourists do not expect to hear about at breakfast — including the jackal, spotted in the wider Kerkini area, slipping through the landscape with the quiet confidence of a creature that has learned how to stay unseen.
And while birds get the spotlight, the lake’s ecosystem is a whole crowded universe beneath them. In the surrounding area, there are at least 10 amphibian species (frogs, salamanders, newts), five snail species, 19 reptile species (lizards, snakes, turtles), and a wide variety of insects that do the unglamorous work of nature: building the food chain, feeding everything else, keeping the system alive. That hidden biodiversity is not just background texture — it is the reason Kerkini holds together as one of Europe’s major wetlands.
The Plan Is Bigger Than a Viewing Platform
The eco-observatory is not presented as a stand-alone structure. It is part of a broader strategy by the Municipality of Sintiki aiming to combine:
- green infrastructure
- digital promotion of the destination
- Tourism development is tied directly to environmental protection
Within Birdway, the municipality proposes additional actions that sound like modern tourism done properly:
- a Digital Interactive Museum for the Lake Kerkini National Park,
- a digital birdlife guide with augmented reality functions,
- an educational program to build biodiversity awareness in local communities.
Digital museums and augmented reality can sometimes feel like buzzwords, but when designed with taste, they can make nature tourism easier for families, students, and casual visitors who are not hardcore birders yet.
The Budget and the Cross-Border Message
Sintiki’s participation in the Interreg Greece–Bulgaria framework is also part of the broader strategy of cross-border cooperation — aimed at sustainable development, resource protection, and quality-of-life improvement.
The total budget for Sintiki’s actions in the program is €606,110.40, with the municipality serving as the lead partner for management and reporting.
This part is not glamorous, but it matters. If the paperwork is solid, the project has a real chance of not becoming “a nice idea” that fades into the fog.
Impact for Travel
A proper eco-observatory means less disturbance to habitats, better structured viewing points, more guided educational options, and a stronger identity for Kerkini as a serious eco-tourism destination.
Kerkini does not need to be marketed like a theme park, but rather as one of the most important wetlands in Europe, with a quiet power that leaves visitors calmer than when they arrived.
It is also worth remembering that Kerkini, despite being created artificially in the 1930s, has fully blended into the region’s natural life. It is proof that nature is not sentimental, but it is generous when you stop fighting it.
Human intervention usually arrives with heavy boots and leaves damage behind — draining, cutting, replacing, “improving.” Nature is rarely grateful for our ideas. Lake Kerkini is a rare exception. It was artificially created in the 1930s, yet gentle human handling did something almost unheard of: instead of pushing life away, it invited it in. The lake has become not only a habitat but a thriving ecological stage — proof that when people manage land with restraint and intelligence, the result can be richer than what existed before.
For birdwatchers, this is not a minor improvement—it is a small blessing. Kerkini already offers year-round viewing that can make even experienced birders go quiet, because the lake does not “give you one nice sighting.” It gives you sequences. Pelicans cruising low, cormorants working the shoreline like fishermen, herons frozen in patience, and migratory flocks turning the sky into moving geometry. A dedicated eco-observatory at Mandraki lets you watch this theatre at the proper distance, with less disturbance and the kind of clean visibility that makes the difference between “I saw something” and “I saw everything.”
