Abstract
The main threats to DNP’s principal assets are habitat and landscape homogenization, large-scale fires, the over-development and unwise location of wind-farms around the park, poisoned baits and the aesthetic degradation of landscapes. Impediments to effective management are not only local, but most stem from problems relating to the general system of protected areas in Greece. They are of ecological, administrative, legislative and institutional nature, but there is also a lack of political will to find solutions for them. The principal management and conservation goals for DNP must be to preserve farmland of high ecological value, to arrest forest expansion and to increase the amount of clearings. Others are to preserve old trees and mature stands to ensure optimal nesting conditions for birds of prey and to ensure vulture food resources long-term. To reach these goals, a plan for sustainable local development needs to be developed and the existing legal framework must be amended to support it. Scientific monitoring results must inform all processes. The participation of local communities and authorities is crucial. Local forestry objectives must be revised to match biodiversity conservation needs and promotion of environment-friendly practices in agriculture must be ensured.