North Central Greece

This area includes most of the huge plain of Thessaly on the southern end, where cotton, grains and tobacco are cultivated. To the east of the plain is the Pilio Peninsula, a unique area with villages of stone houses in steep mountain forests, where there are many fruit and nut trees from which come a large percentage of Greece's apples, cherries, and nuts.

Predictably, all of the human activities that plague coastal areas near large urban centers (draining for construction and agriculture, dumping, hunting, etc.) has wiped out a lot of these areas and the rich wildlife that they supported, though a few remain. One of them is now a Ramsar site, encompassing the deltas of the Axios, Loudias, and Aliakmon Rivers .

Lakes Vegoritidha and Petron

These are southeast of Florina, near Amindeo, and are known for their birdlife. They are natural lakes which lie about 500 meters above sea level, with hills or mountains around them. As of a few years ago they were being considered for designation as Special Areas for Conservation. Lake Vegoritidha is the largest and deepest of the two.