Its first name was Boibeis and was taken from the nearby ancient city of Boibe which today is located at Kanalia.
Restoration of the lake
Lake Karla, some north of Athens, was a 180 km2 lake that was completely drained in 1962 to gain land for agriculture. The lake was part of the ancient Greek mythology. Before its drainage, it was the site of a unique fishermen culture, with the fishermen spending some nine months of the year in reed huts that they built on the lake. The lake fisheries were an important tradition and to some extent a significant economic activity. For these reasons, and because agriculture was never successful in the saline soils of the former lake bed, the local population supports an ambitious project to restore the lake. The restoration will reflood only 50 of the original 180 km2 of the former lake. The project represents a 100 million ECU investment that would be financed with the support of the European Commission. Some technical aspects still require further elaboration in order to ensure that it is environmentally sound, but the project has so much popular and political support that most likely it will go ahead. If so, it would represent one of the most ambitious wetland restoration projects and a good case study for the Ramsar Convention. The lake has been "inaugurated" in October 2018 and now contains even more water than planned. This project is unique to the Balkans and Europe and has been nominated for the EU-Council Prize.
Other notable facts
The site includes Mavrovouni mountain, two water reservoirs in former Lake Karla and the spring Kefalovryso in Velestino. Mavrovouni extends between Ossa and Pilio mountains and is today restored totally in Magnesia. It mainly consists of schist and, in less extent, of limestone. The marine area covers 2% of the site, the terrestrial area covers 96% and the reservoirs cover 2% Its northeast side ends in steep cliffs in the Aegean Sea. At the higher zone, it is mainly covered by oak forests and at lower parts by beech and chestnut forests. Maquis covers the lower zone. At the eastern part of the mountain it is very dense and dominated by holm oak. The rest of maquis is dominated by kermes oak and wild olive and has deteriorated as a result of intense grazing. This area is used for pasture by high numbers of farm animals. Mavrovouni also includes ravines, rock formations, grasslands, phrygana and agricultural land. A significant number of streams runs the mountain, most of them drying in summer. At the banks of the streams there are plane trees, alders, poplars and willows. The two water reservoirs, one near Stefanovikio and the other near Kalamaki, were constructed in 1988 for irrigation purposes in the area of the former Lake Karla. Their water flows in from the river Pineios through the Asmaki stream. However, industrial and agricultural wastes flow into the reservoirs. They are possibly eutrophic and a rapid increase of reedbeds into them is observed. Kefalovryso spring has suffered the effects of human activities. Its area has been reduced, it has lost its natural vegetation and possibly its native fishes, as well. Now it is used as a pond for the production of commercial and exotic fishes.
