Greece plans 2 marine protected areas. But rival Turkey and environmental groups aren’t impressed WSOC TV [Video]

ATHENS, Greece — (AP) — Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780-million-euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems that includes banning bottom trawling and tackling plastic and microplastic pollution, the prime minister announced during an international oceans conference Tuesday.

But the plan for the marine parks has irked Greece’s neighbor and regional rival, Turkey, while environmental organizations say the initiative doesn’t go far enough, noting that the country also allows environmentally harmful practices such as energy exploration in sensitive marine environments.

“The ocean has paid a heavy price for its service to humankind. It has been a vital source of life and livelihood. We have not been kind to it in return,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a speech at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens “So we meet today with a new sense of urgency. Our world is changing faster than our capacity to adapt …