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Site of Community Importance and Special Protection Area (SCI and SPA)Όλυμπος

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus (GR1250001) is a Site of Community Importance and Special Protection Area (SCI and SPA) in the Natura 2000 network, 18,867 hectares (189 km²). It lies in the municipalities of Dion - Olympos and Elassona (regional units Pieria and Larisa, Central Macedonia). According to the European Environment Agency's database (2024 release) it protects 13 habitat types of Annex I and 78 species (birds 66, mammals 2, reptiles 4, amphibians 1, invertebrates 4, plants 1).

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What it protects

Source: the European Environment Agency's Natura 2000 database, 2024 release, as reported by the member state. Habitat types are shown with their Annex I code and the EEA's English name. Common names of species come from Wikidata where they exist, otherwise the scientific name is shown. Left out: 2 species that the EEA records as non-significant presence.

Annex I habitat types
CodeHabitat type (as the EEA gives it)Cover (ha)Priority
9530(Sub-) Mediterranean pine forests with endemic black pines7,530Priority
95A0High oro-Mediterranean pine forests3,465–
6170Alpine and subalpine calcareous grasslands3,217–
9150Medio-European limestone beech forests of the Cephalanthero-Fagion1,456–
8210Calcareous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation1,348–
9340Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia forests898–
91M0Pannonian-Balkanic turkey oak -sessile oak forests256–
6230Species-rich Nardus grasslands, on silicious substrates in mountain areas (and submountain areas in Continental Europe)232Priority
4060Alpine and Boreal heaths197–
8140Eastern Mediterranean screes106–
4090Endemic oro-Mediterranean heaths with gorse54–
9130Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests26–
92C0Platanus orientalis and Liquidambar orientalis woods (Platanion orientalis)8–

Birds (66)

Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba), Bee-eater (Merops apiaster), Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros), Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica), Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala), Blackbird (Turdus merula), Buzzard (Buteo buteo), Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), Common House Martin (Delichon urbicum), Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), Dotterel (Eudromias morinellus), Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna pallida), Eleonora's Falcon (Falco eleonorae), Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea), Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus), Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus), Hobby (Falco subbuteo), Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), Hoopoe (Upupa epops), Icterine Warbler (Hippolais icterina), Lesser Grey Shrike (Lanius minor), Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca), Levant Sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes), Long-eared Owl (Asio otus), Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Leiopicus medius), Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana), Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus), Peregrine (Falco peregrinus), Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio), Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus), Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), Robin (Erithacus rubecula), Rock Thrush (Monticola saxatilis), Scops Owl (Otus scops), Semi-collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata), Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus), Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla), Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos), Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), Subalpine Warbler (Sylvia cantillans), Swallow (Hirundo rustica), Swift (Apus apus), Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus), Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), Tengmalm's Owl (Aegolius funereus), Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus), Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis), Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur), Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta), Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra), White Wagtail (Motacilla alba), White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), Whitethroat (Sylvia communis), Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix), Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator), Woodlark (Lullula arborea), Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava)

Mammals (2)

Balkan Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica), Barbastelle Bat (Barbastella barbastellus)

Reptiles (4)

European ratsnake (Zamenis situla), Four lined snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata), Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni), Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata)

Amphibians (1)

Yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata)

Invertebrates (4)

Buprestis splendens, Cerambyx cerdo, Morimus asper funereus, Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)

Plants (1)

Dactylorhiza kalopissii subsp. kalopissii

Designation

It is protected both for the habitat types and species of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), as a Site of Community Importance, and for the bird species of the Birds Directive (2009/147/EC), as a Special Protection Area.

Network codes
CodeTypeAreaDesignated (EEA)Name in the EEA register
GR1250001Site of Community Importance and Special Protection Area (SCI and SPA)18,867 haOct. 1987OROS OLYMPOS

Legal basis: Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and Birds Directive (2009/147/EC). The register name is the one the EEA publishes.

Places inside and beside the site

Settlements, official bathing-water sites and sights with a page of their own whose point lies inside the boundary or up to 3 km outside it. Inside: 1. Up to 12 per kind are shown, best known first.

Towns and villages: within 3 km outside the boundary

Sights: inside the boundary (1)

Sights: within 3 km outside the boundary

Works and permits in the site

Works and plans that could significantly affect a Natura 2000 site need an appropriate assessment of their effects under Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). In Greece this is the Special Ecological Assessment (Ειδική Οικολογική Αξιολόγηση, ΕΟΑ) under law 4014/2011. The Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (ΟΦΥΠΕΚΑ) is responsible for managing Natura 2000 sites, through the protected-area management bodies.

This page is not legal advice and does not say what is allowed on a particular property. Each site's rules are set in the official texts; for a property or a project, ask the competent authority. Natura 2000 at the European Commission.

How the numbers were counted

The boundary is the Ministry's (YPEN geoportal). The code, name, area, date of designation, habitat types and species are from the EEA's Natura 2000 database (2024 release, fetched 8 Oct 2026). Habitat cover is what the member state reports; where the EEA gives an "unknown" value (9999) or one larger than the site, it is not shown. The EEA gives the marine part only as yes or no, not as a share, and we do not use the "quality and importance" text of the data form. The EEA data is licensed CC BY 4.0 (copyright holder: the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment). The Greek and English names of sites and species, and the Wikipedia article titles, are Wikidata's (CC0).

Municipalities come from sample points inside the boundary: one is named when it holds at least 5% of the points that fall on land. For a purely marine site the nearest coastal municipality (within 60 km) is named. The settlements, beaches and sights are those that have a page on this site; municipal boundaries and island outlines are from OpenStreetMap.

Places nearby

Pages of this site, in a straight line and on the same side of the water, nearest first.

Nearest airport

See also

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the sources below, with the date each was updated.

Page updated .