Gialova Lagoon: A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Messinia’s Wetland

Most visitors come to Gialova for the sea. Fewer notice that the village sits beside one of the most important wetlands in southern Greece. Right behind the sand, a shallow lagoon shelters migrating birds, reptiles and a chameleon found nowhere else in Europe. This guide explains what the lagoon is, what you can expect to see and how to visit without disturbing it.

Where the lagoon is and why it has two names

Gialova Lagoon lies in the municipality of Pylos-Nestor in Messinia, a few kilometres north of Pylos and next to the village of Gialova. Locals also call it Divari, a name that comes from the Latin word vivarium, meaning fishery.

A 2020 study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution describes the wetland as covering 5.295 square kilometres, with a main water body that averages only about 0.6 metres in depth. A natural sand formation roughly 3.8 kilometres long and about 150 metres wide separates it from Navarino Bay to the south. Because the water is so shallow, salinity changes a lot through the year, and the same study notes hypersaline conditions for nearly 30 percent of the year.

A protected stop on a long migration route

The lagoon belongs to the European Natura 2000 network. It is listed as a Special Protection Area under code GR2550008 and as an Important Bird Area. It has also been declared an archaeological protection zone, which is not surprising given how much ancient history surrounds Navarino Bay.

Its value for birds comes from geography. The lagoon is among the first places where migratory birds stop on their way from Africa to northern Europe, and one of the last before the return crossing of the Mediterranean in autumn. For a tired bird, shallow water with food and cover matters a great deal.

How many bird species live here

You will find different numbers depending on the source, because they count different things. The researchers behind the 2020 study recorded 149 bird species from 43 families during their own fieldwork, of which 66 were waterbirds and 36 were classed as threatened at international, European or national level. The official tourism website of the Region of Peloponnese gives a total of 271 bird species recorded at the lagoon over time.

Species named by the Region of Peloponnese include:

• flamingos, which are the birds most visitors hope to see
• herons, little egrets and great egrets
• cormorants and ospreys
• little bitterns and stonechats
• bar-tailed godwits and the rare Eurasian dotterel

The same source lists 34 reptile species, 28 mammal species and 16 fish species in the area, so the lagoon is far more than a bird site.

The only chameleon population in Europe

The coastal strip around the lagoon hosts the only European population of the African chameleon, Chamaeleo africanus, a species described in the scientific literature as critically endangered. According to the Region of Peloponnese, the animals lay 40 to 50 eggs in the sand during autumn. That detail explains why the dunes matter as much as the water: nests sit in the same sand that people walk and park on.

If you are lucky enough to spot one, keep your distance and do not touch or move it. The sand dunes are its nursery.

Hides, the trail and the best time to go

The Region of Peloponnese describes two closed birdwatching hides, one at the entrance of the lagoon and one towards Voidokilia, plus a tall open-air hide inside the wetland. A circular nature trail starts at the information centre of the Hellenic Ornithological Society, housed in the old pumping station.

Spring and autumn are the recommended seasons, since they match the migration. Early morning and late afternoon give the softest light and the calmest conditions. Bring binoculars, water and a hat, because shade is limited along the path.

The lagoon pairs naturally with a day by the sea. The calm, shallow water of Gialova beach is a short distance from the trail, and Ammothines, a beachfront venue in nearby Petrochori, describes itself as built around a sand dune complex filled with white sand lilies, with a Greek restaurant, an all-day beach bar and seven glamping tents among the dunes.

Visiting responsibly

The wetland has not had an easy history. Drainage canals were dug along its edges in the 1960s, and the 2020 study reports that reduced water circulation and rising salinity killed large areas of reed and cattail. The authors also note that parts of the wetland were gradually turned into farmland or parking areas. Visitors can at least avoid adding pressure:

• stay on the marked trail and use the hides instead of approaching birds
• keep vehicles off the sand and away from the dunes
• keep dogs on a lead and voices low
• take all litter back with you

For ideas on what else to combine with the lagoon, from snorkelling to the Bronze Age sites around the bay, this overview of Gialova, Greece is a useful starting point.

A quiet side of Messinia

Gialova Lagoon rewards patience more than planning. An hour in a hide at dusk, with flamingos feeding in ankle-deep water, shows a side of the Peloponnese that beach guides rarely mention, and it costs nothing but a little care.

Sources

• Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Status and Distribution of Waterbirds in a Natura 2000 Area: The Case of Gialova Lagoon, Messinia, Greece. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.501548/full
• Region of Peloponnese, Gialova Lagoon. https://visitpeloponnese.com/en/prdct/gialova-lagoon
• Wikipedia, Gialova Lagoon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gialova_Lagoon

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