A man paddles in the waters of the Ionian Sea near Sidari settlement on the island of Corfu, Greece July 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

ATHENS, July 21 (Reuters) – Greece revealed on Monday the boundaries of two planned marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean Seas, which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said will be the largest in the Mediterranean region.

Athens wants to establish the parks, for the protection of sea mammals and turtles in the Ionian Sea and for seabirds and seals in the Aegean, this year. Mitsotakis said they will help the country meet its global commitment to expand its marine protected areas to 30% of its waters by 2030.

“They will allow us to meet the target of protecting 30% of our territorial waters by 2030 way ahead of schedule,” Mitsotakis said. “They will be vast sanctuaries for life beneath the waves,” he said, adding that trawling of the sea floor will be banned inside the zones.

The environmental studies on the parks’ boundaries were submitted on Monday for public consultation until September 22.

The planned Aegean Sea park has previously stirred up tensions between Greece and its eastern neighbour Turkey, with the two countries at odds over a range of issues including maritime boundaries.

Athens has assured that the park’s boundaries are within Greece’s territorial waters.

The Aegean park, at 9,500 square kilometres (km2), will initially expand around the southern Cyclades islands, further south from Turkey, according to the maps Greece submitted on Monday, along with the environmental studies.

The size of both parks is seen at 27,500 km2, government officials said, and Greece wants to expand them further.

When the public consultation ends, the environment ministry will draft two presidential decrees, which will be submitted to the Council of State by end October, the officials added. The parks will be established once the decrees are published.

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