Cephalonia Botanica carried out a five-day botanical expedition to Paxos and Lefkas in July 2020. The purpose of the trip was to collect seeds for the Seed Bank of the Garden and to enrich the collection of the Herbarium but also to record populations of endemic and rare species.
Highlights of the research findings were the recording of Centaurea paxorum in Paxos, Paeonia peregrina and Campanula garganica ssp.cephallenia in Lefkas.

Seed collection in Zakinthos and Lefkada

In August 2019 Evi Matiatou and Aristotelis Skiadaresis realised two botanical expeditions in Zakinthos and Lefkada. The purpose of the expeditions was to collect seeds for Cephalonia Botanica’s Seed Bank which aims to collect and protect all the Endemic, Rare and Endangered species of the Ionian Islands.

Botanic expedition for plants in Zakinthos

“Discovering green spaces through play in our town”

The workshop “Discovering green spaces through play in our town” was organized by Cephalonia Botanica of the Focas-Cosmetatos Foundation in collaboration with the WWF Greece and the Coordinators of School Activities and Projects of the Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education in Kefalonia, within the framework of Environmental Education. It took place on 31 March 2017, with great success.

The first part of the workshop, which was aimed at schoolchildren, was hosted by Cephalonia Botanica and included a thorough presentation of the WWF Green spaces programme, as well various educational activities on environmental issues.
192 schoolchildren from various primary and secondary schools in Kefalonia participated in this morning session.

The second part of the workshop consisted of a three-hour experiential seminar for school teachers, which took place at the Napier Gardens and at the new premises of the 2nd General Lyceum in Argostoli. This session was attended by 37 primary and secondary school teachers.

The instructors of the WWF Greece, Ms. Nancy Koutava and Ms. Sofia Axonidis, using experiential learning methods, presented the Green spaces programme, which is about the “Greenspaces” phone application and how it can be used in everyday life. 

The aim of both the activities and the seminar was to educate future active citizens, so that they can appreciate and grade green spaces in their hometown, help maintain them in good condition and demand their continued maintenance from local authorities. Both students and teachers learned how to observe their natural environment, cultivate their naturalistic intelligence and be motivated to discover and enjoy green spaces in their town through play.

Using the WWF Greece "Greenspaces" phone application, one can easily grade green spaces, parks, playgrounds or squares around town.  In this way, we can all become active citizens and help WWF Greece create a data base of all the green spaces in our country.

That is how we can become part of the solution.

We would like to thank all of the participants in the event, students and teachers, the ‘WWF Greece’ instructors Ms. Koutava and Ms. Axonidis, the Coordinators of School Activities and Projects of the Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education in Kefalonia Ms. Evangelia Skiadaresi and Mr. Gerasimos Galanos and the Principal of the 2nd Lyceum of Argostoli for hosting the seminar in their premises.