Evaluation and Development of Small Island Communities with Special Reference to Uninhabited Insular Areas

Abstract

The Greek territory contains a large number of insular areas. Approximately 9,800 of them have been registered, covering up to 1/5 of its total surface, rendering Greece the country with the largest coastline within the European Union. Nevertheless, only a small portion of them, around 0.01%, are inhabited and an unspecified number is occasionally used for economic purposes.

During past years, several estimations and scenarios about the development capacity of those uninhabited insular areas have been expressed, mainly as part of the wider debate on the appropriate response to the fiscal and social crisis that is affecting the country since 2008. According to preliminary findings, the development capabilities cover a wide spectrum of mainly natural resources either on the land or the surrounding marine areas.

However, all those estimations remain rough and give just a blur outline of the actual image. This paper proposes the application of a methodology for the assessment of current condition and the development of future potentials of the Greek Insular Areas. The G.U.I.D.E. (Greek Uninhabited Islands Development Evaluation) methodology is aiming to examine a series of parameters that govern the development capacity of each area or complex of areas and will highlight the comparative advantages and propose alternative options for their utilization. The main scope of this methodology is to propose solutions that are in conformity with sustainable development principles set by the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) and move one step forward to self-regulation and management.

Keywords: Islands, Uninhabited Islands, Regional Development, Law of the Sea, Environmental Managment

JEL Classification: K32, K33, R52