The sceneries, the animals and the plants, as well as the environmental problems of the protected area of Axios – Loudias – Aliakmonas Estuaries were the “raw material” for the 63 photographers who responded to our call to come and create images of the area, in the framework of an international photo contest.

The photographers visited the area, collected images and feelings and each of them offered their own personal view , offering a valuable photo portfolio of the National Park. The contest took place during 2008 by the Axios – Loudias – Aliakmonas Management Authority and the Photography Center of Thessaloniki (www.fkth.gr), and was possible through financing by Interreg IIIA European community program.

Among the many and very good photographs, we selected the images of 35 photographers, which are now consisting the photo exhibition entitled “Axios – Loudias – Aliakmonas Estuaries: an unknown treasure”. This exhibition was first presented in Thessaloniki in November 2008 and still goes on with its journey in cities and villages of Greece

The photographers who were awarded the first prizes were:

- Kariofilis Grozoudis (1ο prize)
- Agorastos Papatsanis (2ο prize)
- Haris Mathiopoulos (3ο prize)
- Christina Papafrangou (Α’ praise)
- Giorgos Hatzispirou (Β’ praise)

Furthermore, the photographs that were commended and are presented in the exhibition and linked editions belong to:

Nikolas Aslanoglou, Dimitris Vavilis, Christos Gkritsas, Alexandra Gripari, Alexandra Demertzi, Alexandros Dovridis, Popi Efthimiadou, Vicky – Maria Ioannou, Georgia Karagiannopoulou, Athanasios Karipidis, Elpida Katsika, Ioannis Kolaxidis, Haris Kourouzidis, Dimitris Lambrelis, Ioannis Litsas, Efthimis Mouratidis, Vasilis Bakaloudis, Eleftherios Betsis, Eva Bogri, Giorgos Bouzikas, Tasis Bounas, Keti Papanaoum, Dimitris Prokopiou, Anestis Samourkasidis, Kostas Saraptsis, Odysseas Tzimoulis, Giannis Hologounis, Chris Vlahos (out of competition), Vasilis Karkatselis (out of competition), Lia Papadranga (out of competition).