The Amvrakikos Wetlands Management Agency was founded on 08/27/2002 with 25 other Management Agencies of Protected Areas to the Law 3044/02. It is a private law, non-profit organization, of the Public Sector (supervised by the Ministry of Environment & Energy) in accordance with Law 2742/99 it aims to: “the administration and management of areas, items and sets of nature and landscape areas designated as PROTECTED”.

To help achieve this goal, it is being run by an 11-member Board of Directors which brings together representatives of Ministries, of decentralized administration, Regional and Local authorities, fishing cooperatives, non-governmental environmental organizations and ETANAM AE OTA. This way it is being seek maximum representation of the State, local authorities and users of the area, in the development of participation and making co-management measures for the Amvrakikos Wetlands National Park.

The Amvrakikos Wetlands Management Agency is renamed into Amvrakikos gulf – Lefkada Management Agency under the Law 4519/2018. This way most emphasis is given to the gulf and the Management Agency extends towards Lefkada’s protected areas.

The vision conveyed through Management Agency of Amvrakikos Wetlands National Park is: sustainable environment (habitats, species of flora and fauna) in combination with sustainable development. Essentially the aim is to restore the functionality of ecosystems that has been degraded without marginalizing the local community or jeopardizing its economic prosperity. The successful implementation of this management model will lead to the promotion of the intrinsic value of biodiversity and its recognition as a major importance for the prosperity of the region.

It is considered a Gastronomic destination with a remarkable variety of flavors with high quality, associated with fish eating. Baked sardines (sprat), shrimp (the famous “Gabari”), the delicious grilled or smoked eel and pedals (grilled mullet) are unique local culinary delights. A special delicacy is the crab and the whimsical Striped that are very rare in Amvrakikos, which are steamed with garlic or spaggetti.

Above all, however, stands the famous botargo. The caviar of Amvrakikos, as locals call it, which is product from “Bafa” (female mullet) they dry and wax it in order to maintain its unsurpassed flavor, to be eaten as a gourmet delicacy, accompanied by ouzo, raki or wine, all locally produced products.

In the region of Arta, Preveza and Lefkada there are also other traditional products well known for their special flavor and quality characteristics, such as:

• Cheese products with Protected Designation of Origin (Feta, graviera and galotyri)
• Oranges and Kiwi from Arta
• Olive products (Lianolia made with oil or edible Konservolia)
• Englouvi’s lentils from Lefkada

Finally, we should mention the high nutritional value of these specific food group and the fact that it stands prominently on the top of the food “pyramid” of the Mediterranean Diet. All these flavors through dishes of Amvrakikos will remain indelibly etched in our palate and we can keep them as culinary memories, mandatory renewable, periodically with visits to this wonderful place…