National Park of Sounio: assessment of rangeland and forest landscapes

The National Park of Sounio is an important place with obvious the effects of human culture. It has a total area of 3500 ha, from which 750 ha is the core and constitutes a NATURA 2000 site (GR 300005). Vegetation of the Park is typical Mediterranean with dominant evergreen broadleaf shrubs and coastal conifers. The proximity with a major urban center (capital city of Athens) could be a threat to the landscape of the region and the existing ecosystems. In the present research the contribution of tourism and recreation aiming at sustainable development was studied. For this purpose, a landscape analysis based on the visual management system of the Ministry of Agriculture of U.S.A. and the visual quality objectives was conducted in three rangeland and two forest areas. Five landscape systems where identified that were judged important with regard to various landscape characteristics. In most landscape systems the visual quality aim is preservation-partial preservation, which indicates that potential interventions should be compatible with the landscape character.