Kouri forest, Aesthetic Forest in Almyros Municipality, Greece.

Kouri Forest is a fenced 98.65-hectare plain oak forest 1 km northwest of Almyros and 500 m from Efxinoupoli. It is covered mainly by downy oaks (Quercus pubescens) averaging 160 years old, with Valonia oaks and pedunculate oaks also present. Inside are two artificial lakes, a 9 m² outdoor chess area, a restaurant, two cafés, a playground, and the chapels of Agios Serafeim and Agios Georgios.

Kouri once covered about 20,000 stremmata, from Neochoraki to the Almyros beach and from the Platanos streams to Cholorema near Aidini, as a natural extension of Mount Othrys flora. In 1927 it was ceded to the Community of Almyros by court decision 35/1927, and in 1970 it was declared reforestable (decision 2554/5-2-1970). A 1980 presidential decree (356/14-4-1980) made it one of Greece's 19 Aesthetic Forests; it later joined Natura 2000 and is a Biogenetic Reserve.

The forest's name is remembered in the Vlach Folklore Museum, founded in the woods in 1989 by the Almyros Vlach Association in a wooden building granted by the municipality. Nearby stood reconstructions of konakia, the straw huts used by Sarakatsani herders. Both fell into disuse and lost maintenance by 2015.

The forest is fenced and covers 986.5 stremmata; a volunteer-made trail map from summer 2023 shows every walkable path and points of interest inside. The small artificial lake was refilled in May 2025 with fountains and ducks, while the large lake remains dry. The "Archontiko" café-restaurant closed in 2025; "To Xylino" and a second café still operate.

The forest is one of 16 Biogenetic Reserve Areas in Greece, part of a European network founded by the Council of Europe in 1976 to preserve representative samples of flora, fauna and natural areas. It has also been a Site of Community Importance under the Natura 2000 network since the 1992 Habitats Directive.