Sandstones of Lefkada, an endemic plant

ARENARIA LEUCADIA is a beautiful beach plant that was recently described and grows only on the northern beaches of the island of Lefkada, in the sand. It has a strange shade of green, with white, small flowers. It looks like an asteroid left on the beach. Next to the pebbles, the seaweed, the vastness of the ocean. The plant in question was studied and classified by the professor emeritus of the University of Patras Dimitrios Foitos and the botanist Arne Strid, giving it the name of the region (Lefkada) since they encountered it for the first time in the region in 1994.

Based on the initial reports, the plant can located in the sandy area of ​​the beach of Gyra up to the cape of Gyrapetra. Later scientific reports (Trigou, 2006) refer to the identification of the plant in question along the entire length of the Northern and Western coastal zone of the lagoon of Lefkada and on three more beaches of the western coast of the island (Red Data Book of Rare and Endangered Plants of of Greece, 2009). The small populations it forms do not exceed a total of 1000 people. Although it is not directly threatened by tourism, as its flowering period ends before the large influx of bathers to the beaches (beginning of June), its habitats are constantly degraded by waste, tourist infrastructure projects and encroachment by motorized vehicles. For this reason, it has been included in the Red Data Book, where it is proposed to be classified as Endangered.

THREATS:
The main threats to this plant are:
• Tourism and leisure activities near the coastal areas (walking, littering, cutting for decoration)
• Lack of information about the importance of the species and appropriate marking in its flowering areas. .

TARGET GROUPS:
Visitors/bathers to the aforementioned beaches of Lefkada (Gyres, Agios Ioannis, etc.) as well as all citizens who are professionally active on this coastal area (owners of canteens, rental rooms and water sports activities).