Lefteris Arapakis

Lefteris Arapakis is a Greek fisherman who has witnessed first-hand the effects of overfishing and pollution on Greece’s fisheries. In 2016, Arapakis founded Enaleia, Greece’s first professional fishing school, to teach fishers to ply their trade in a more eco-friendly manner and enlist the seafaring community’s help to clean up the Mediterranean of plastic waste. Since its launch, Enaleia has collected more than 80 tons of plastic from the sea, and they work with 700 people on 145 boats from Greece and Italy, giving a monetary reward for the plastic they return to shore. 

The United Nations Environment Programme named Arapakis Europe’s Young Champion of the Earth. The award provides seed funding and mentorship to promising environmentalists. Arapakis and his team continue to work towards their mission of making Greece’s fisheries more sustainable and reducing plastic waste in the Mediterranean.