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The geographical area of Peloponnese includes a large peninsula in southern Greece which consists of the peripheral units of Argolida, Arcadia, Achaia, Ilia, Korinthia, Lakonia and Messinia.  Peloponnesa is an area of 21,649 square kilometers and is east of the Aegean Sea, west of the Ionian Sea, north of the Corinthian Gulf and south of the Myrtoo Sea.

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The geomorphological relief of the Peloponnese is mainly mountainous and steep. In the northern area three mountains, Erymanthos, Helmos and Ziria are rising above 2,000 meters. In Main Peloponnesus, Mainalo is the highest peak, while the mountains of Taygetos and Parnonas dominate the southern areas.

The climate of the Peloponnese is Mediterranean and is characterized by warm and prolonged summer drought and followed by a mild, rainy winter. Ιn the coastal and lowland areas of the western Peloponnese, there is a Mediterranean climate with heavy rainfall (800-1600 mm / year). In the central part it evolves into a mountainous climate with very low temperatures and heavy snowfalls during the winter. To the east, the rainfall is limited to 400 mm / year while in the Northeast the climate is characterized as semi-dry.

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Peloponnese hosts 10% of endemic species of terrestrial molluscs (48 species), lepidoptera (33 species) and terrestrial coleoptera (39 species) of Greece.

Four species of endemic lizards can be found in the area of Peloponnese,  while In Pelos, the only population of African chameleon (Chamaeleo africanus) in Europe is recorded. The Cypparisian and Laconic Gulf are spawning areas of the Caretta sea turtle (Caretta caretta, Vulnerable, IUCN).

From mammals we distinguish the otter (Lutra lutra, NT) and jackal (Canis aureus moreoticus, LC).

The avifauna of the area includes more than 320 species.

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Herpetofauna:

Algyroides moreoticus
(Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833)

Hellenolacerta graeca
(Bedriaga, 1886)

Podarcis peloponnesiacus
(Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833)

Ophiomorus punctatissimus
(Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833)

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Algyroides moreaticus

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Hellenolacerta graeca (juvennile)
Photo by N. Stamos

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Podarcis peloponnesiacus

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Ophiomorus punctatissimus

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Greece is part of the Mediterranean Basin, a biodiversity hotspot that is currently investigated. Mediterranean Basin stretches from Cabo Verde in the west and Turkey to the east. Parts of Spain, France, Italy, Balkan States, Greece, Turkey and Nations of North Africa and middle East are included as well as some islands scattered around the Mediterranean sea and some in the Atlantic sea.