RECREATION
The exponential growth of the population of Athens after the second World War and the gradual, but constant degradation of its environment (e.g. smog, traffic, almost absolute absence of parks and green areas, pollution of nearby seas, etc.), created to its inhabitants the need for getting away even for a short time. The countryside offers them tranquility, an opportunity to enjoy nature and to escape from the constant city stress.
The Athenians began to ramble in Parnitha already since 1960's, mainly during feast days. The gradual increase of visitors led the Forest Service to the creation of 12 main recreation grounds during 1983-2004, so that the visitors would be oriented to them and would not be scattered in the entire area, where there is no substructure. In that way, it was possible to avoid the degradation of the environment (litter, soil compaction, destruction of the fir's regeneration, fires, etc.).
A forest recreation research that was carried out in the National Park during 1991-1992 showed that Parnitha is visited by an average of 3,000-5,000 persons each week, apart from the hikers. Almost half of these visitors come on Sunday. At the same year, c. 267,000 visitors by car were recorded. Furthermore, 900 employees at various settlements on Parnitha come to the mountain on an every day basis, as well as the visitors of the casino - 600 at average.
During a second forest recreation research that was carried out in the years 2001-2002, it was found that Parnitha is visited by an average of 4,700-7,000 every week, apart from the hikers, while almost half of the visits occur on Sunday. A total of 403,000 visitors were recorded during 2001-2002.
The output from these two researches in 10 year spectrum show an increase of c. 66% to the visitors, as follows:
Period |
Average of visitors per week |
Total number of the visitors of the National Park |
| 1991-1992 |
3,000 - 5,000 |
267,000 |
2001-2002 |
4,700 - 7,000 |
403,000 |
Unfortunately, the number of guests has so much increased, that it causes a huge problem to the National Park. The iniquitous number of cars circulating in the Park create loud noises and disturb the animals and the visitors destroy the flora by collecting it. Furthermore, there are numerous visitors that ignore the Park's regulations and light fires either to broil or to camp, something that not even common sense allows. We hope that through these webpages, the public's awareness will be arisen, so that during excursions to Parnitha, people will be more cautious, carry their own food and water, pick up their litter and throw it inside the bins. Most important is that anyone coming to the mountain, leaves behind him only his trails.
