Municipality of Agios Nikolaos (MoAN)

Municipality of Agios Nikolaos is one of the local authorities of Crete island. It has 27.074 permanent inhabitants but the population increases up to 80.000 in the summer because of tourists. The Municipality includes 25 administrative regions and 5 small islands. The total length of the coastline stretches up to 100km. The maximum altitude is 873m and the average altitude is about 334m. About climate, winters are mild and summers are very hot. There is low rainfall during the winter and long period draughts during the summer. The municipality faces climate hazards such as: water scarcity, extreme high temperatures, rising level of sea, droughts, coast corrosion. There is major interest in the protection and management of coastal areas, where corrosion and land loss take place and sea level rises. The effects of all these in tourism, social and financial improvement will be significant. The water scarcity threatens plant production and livestock rearing. The municipality has signed the Covenant of Mayors and has prepared Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). Moreover, inside the village of Municipality of Agios Nikolaos called “Finokalias”, lies the station of environmental measurements since 1993, managed by the Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory (ECPL) of the Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, which has been conducting research and education of the environment.