Tholi Lagoon
Tholi Lagoon belongs to the Messolonghi-Etolikos lagoon complex and is located 45km from the town of Messolonghi. Its southwestern front is located in the Ionian Sea. To the east resides the Prokopanistos lagoon with which the water communication was severely restricted from the early 1970s and finally cut off in 1994, while to the west resides the Paleopotamos lagoon with which it was completely isolated in the 1960s.
It is a closed-type lagoon that communicates with the sea through two (2) channels of a total length of 50-150 m, equipped with modern fishtrap facilities, while it is delimited from the sea by a natural sand dune of 2,500 m. It has an area of 8,000-12,000 stremmas, an average depth of 0.6m (0.1-1m) and is characterized by low salinity.
It has two recruitment inlets, in one of which operate modern concrete fishtrap facilities. It also has an area of 150 stremmas with a depth of 1,20m which is used as a refuge of undersized fish.
Tholi Lagoon belongs to the 10% of the largest Greek lagoons with an area of over 7.000 stremmas.
The importance of the Messolonghi-Etoliko lagoon area began to be ecologically acknowledged in the 70s. Firstly, with the Ramsar Convention, it was integrated in the aquatic areas of international significance as a habitat for aquatic birds or shorebirds, while furthermore, with the integration in the Natura 2000 network it was included in the habitat of European interest and in the important for birds areas.
Near the lagoon a puzzle of forms and formations develops, a variety of habitats that succeed each other in harmonious continuity. Open sea, estuarine systems, marshy areas, hilly and mountainous areas, including the magnificent gorge of Kleisoura, classified as an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" and the forest of Fraxos classified as a "Monument of Nature". The dominant one, however, is the Messolonghi - Etoliko lagoon complex, with an area of 150,000 hectares, making it the largest in our country.
Near and within the lagoon a great variety of plants and animals with the intense presence of birds, common and rare, fascinate with the harmony of their movement, their colours, their voices and their beneficial contribution to the balance of nature. The eastern imperial eagle of Kleisoura, the avocets and the greater flamingos of the salt marshes, the black-winged stilts, the Eurasian spoonbills are some of the species that live alongside us.
The Tholi lagoon and the reeds, wet meadows and mudflats that have been created in a large part of it, peripherally, are an ideal place for hosting a large number of bird species. A refuge for changing their feathers or resting during their migratory journey, a nesting and foraging area, Tholi is an area that hosts large numbers of birds throughout the year.
