In his interview with journalist Vasilis Kyriakoulis, Alexandros Dimitrakopoulos, the Dean of the School of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Environment at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), provides a historical overview of forest management in Greece, he highlights the state's inability to effectively invest in both wildfire prevention and suppression, while he argues that “forests are not a renewable natural resource” and that within a few decades, Greek forests “will either be confined to highly mountainous areas or disappear”.
How has the central Greek state managed forests over time?
Since the establishment of the modern Greek state in 1830, forest management has changed many methods, techniques, and approaches, depending on the primary objectives of each government.
When King Otto arrived in Greece, one of the first orders he issued was to prohibit shepherds from burning forests, as this practice had become an epidemic phenomenon. However, this did not last long, as his Bavarian administrators saw forests as an economic resource and placed them under the Ministry of Economy. Forests became a potential “piggy bank”, which the government could exploit whenever it needed funds. When timber auctions were held, lumber suppliers would enter the forests and cut down a designated area which got… bigger if they bribed forest officials, rangers. Things began to change in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1917, the first School of Forestry and Natural Environment was established at the National Technical University of Athens. By 1922-1923, the first Greek foresters had graduated, and in collaboration with colleagues who had been sent by the Venizelos government to study in Germany and Austria, they formed the first Forestry Service in 1921, and coincidentally, the first law they enacted was aimed at combating and managing forest fires. Was this prophetic? Who knows?
Devastated by World War II Greece was reborn from its burned forests. From the ashes of its scorched woodlands. All that timber was used to build homes
During the interwar period up until 1940, many significant developments took place. I will mention two notable examples: the establishment of the Forest Research Office in Athens, which created volume tables for timber, and these tables are still in use today, and the construction of the first massive gravity dams in Greece’s mountainous regions with which we were able to control the problem of flooding. Tremendous effort was put into this work, currently resulting in gravity dams-“jewels” all over Greece in the mountains. Gravity dams made of stone and mortar. That’s how they held back the soil in the mountainous terrain, and they prevented the plains from flooding.
Then came the devastation of the Occupation and the Civil War. By 1945, Greece had, for the first time, more than 100.000 hectares of burned forest land. Specifically, 150.000 hectares were officially recorded as burned, but unofficially, the number exceeded 200.000. It was an enormous disaster. Most of these burned areas consisted of standing timber – that is tree trunks that had burned but not fallen. The Greek state attempted to auction off the timber, but at that time, for obvious reasons, no one would go up into the mountains to work. As a result, the Greek state decided to harvest the timber itself and use it for rebuilding burned homes that had been bombed during the Occupation. Greece, devastated by World War II was reborn from the ashes of its burned forests. From the ashes of its burned forests. All that timber was used to rebuild homes. It is tragic, but in a way, also symbolic.
What was the role of Forest Service in forest management?
In the 1950s, the Forest Service was established in each administrative region of Greece, and the first forest management studies were developed. This marked the beginning of systematic forest management in the country. Greek foresters entered the forests, built roads, carried out cultivation efforts, conducted thinning operations, and managed timber harvesting. The forests were no longer left to chance or subject to arbitrary exploitation. Grazing was controlled. Thus, from the 1950s until the period of the Military Junta, Greece had a prudent forest management from a well-organized and properly staffed Forest Service. During the Junta period, there was an effort to maximize timber production from the forests. The goal was to produce as much wood as possible in order to reduce the country's trade deficit. However, this approach was largely unsuccessful, partly because Greece did not have as many productive forests, and partly because the quality of Greek timber was of inferior quality to some timber imported from abroad.
It was during this period that forest exploitation centers were established in areas with significant forest resources. These included Karadere in Drama, Vytina in the Peloponnese, the Aspropotamos complex in Trikala, and Metsovo in Epirus.
When do the first major forest fires appear in Greece?
The first major forest fires in Greece, as we understand them today, began in the 1980s. The turning point was in 1977 with the fire in Limni, Evia. It was the first large-scale wildfire in the region. It destroyed 15.000 hectares of pine forest. In December 1978, Greece received its first aerial firefighting aircraft, the Canadair. The situation worsened, and in subsequent years, 1981, 1985, 1988, and 1990, the burned forest areas exceeded 100.000 hectares. The situation was really hopeless. Since other Southern European countries faced similar challenges, although perhaps not at the same level, the General Conference of European Union Countries on the future of European forests was held in Strasbourg, France, in 1990. There, the first European measures were adopted for forest fire protection.
Funding was allocated for forest fire prevention, but unfortunately, much of it was used for road design studies and construction projects rather than substantial studies for the prevention of forest fires. As a result, the problem persisted – looking back, it is now clear that after 1990, the phenomenon of climate change became increasingly evident to the planet, it became more explicit to countries in the transitional zone between Central Europe and North Africa. This led to an increase in extreme weather events, particularly longer drought periods in summer and increased periods of heatwaves, both of which have contributed to the intensification of wildfires.
Funding was allocated for forest fire prevention, but unfortunately, much of it was used for road design studies and construction projects rather than substantial studies for the prevention of forest fires
These climatic conditions may not necessarily increase the frequency of wildfires, but they certainly affect how easy or difficult they are to control. Fighting a fire in hot and dry conditions is significantly more difficult than putting it out in milder conditions. The wildfire phenomenon in Greece is deteriorating drastically. Fires are breaking European records, such as the Dadia wildfire, which burned over 100.000 hectares. Attica has also suffered numerous wildfires, and the new threat of wildland-urban fires has emerged because many urban units expand into forests resulting in fire threatening homes as well. Unfortunately, the situation does not seem to be improving. In my opinion, while the measures being taken are in the right direction, they are often inconsistent. Rather than focusing on purchasing more aircraft and vehicles, the priority should be training personnel in the best possible response - extinguishing forest fires.
What are the main factors that have contributed to the fact we are seeing ever larger and more destructive fires?
There are two main factors that have contributed to the increase in burned forest areas since 2000. The first is climate deterioration, as seen in extreme droughts and heatwaves and the second is the transfer of wildfire management responsibilities from the Forest Service to the Fire Service. For years, the Forest Service was responsible for wildfire suppression, with experienced personnel who lived in the forests and had deep knowledge of them, however, this responsibility was handed over to a Corps (Fire Service), which had absolutely no idea not just in fighting forest fires, but in understanding forests at all. This shift greatly contributed to the increase in burned areas given that, for years, the Fire Service's mentality, was: “we protect homes and human lives and let the forest burn”, which translates to “We wait for the fire to reach the road”.
The transfer of firefighting responsibilities from the Forestry Service to the Fire Service greatly contributed to the increase in burned areas
What is the economic relationship between forest fire prevention and suppression in Greece?
Huge amounts are spent on wildfire suppression compared to what is spent on prevention and preparedness. The economic ratio between prevention and suppression is approximately 1 to 20, meaning that for every €1 spent on prevention, €20 is spent on suppression. Prevention includes all measures taken to prevent a forest fire from starting or to extinguish it as easily as possible if it does start. Preparedness (pre-suppression) refers to the readiness of all firefighting forces –ground, mechanized, and aerial– in terms of logistics, operations, deployment, and dispersion in different parts of the forest. Suppression is the actual firefighting effort to extinguish wildfire.
Where could the central state have invested but didn’t?
The Greek state should renew its concern and interest in the Forest Service. And this translates into adequate staffing to restart forest management, which over the last 20 years has ceased to exist due to a lack of staff and administrative structuring. Now, Greek forests, with few exceptions, are not managed by the Forest Service. They have been left to their fate, leading to the accumulation of forest fuel, there is no pruning, and there are no road openings which result in the increasing risk of fire both in terms of ignition and the difficulty of extinguishing them.
Natural forest regeneration or artificial reforestation?
I belong to the school of thought that says, “Nature knows best”. If nature intended to introduce species considered less flammable in certain areas, it would have done so. Nature selects the vegetation species that will be in each area. Based on one and only criterion: their best adaptation to the climatic and soil conditions of a region. Trying to turn a coastal pine forest into an oak forest, something typically found at 1.000 meters altitude, is futile. A second deterrent to artificial reforestation is cost. Less than 1.5% of annually burned forest areas are artificially reforested because the cost is enormous. If we allow nature to remain undisturbed, it will be able to heal its wounds and restore the forest.
I don’t believe that forests have decreased over time, but this is not due to successful wildfire suppression. Rather, it is the result of the complete abandonment of rural areas and the decline of livestock farming, which has led to the reforestation of many agricultural lands. However, this should neither reassure nor encourage us. It is a completely temporary phenomenon that will eventually cease to exist.
Who is responsible for the frequency of wildfires in Greece?
Unlike in the USA, Canada, or Australia, where a significant percentage of wildfires are caused by lightning strikes, in Greece, lightning strikes accounts for only 1% to 2% of forest fires. So, the direct answer to who is responsible for wildfires in Greece is humans, whether intentionally or unintentionally. People start wildfires in Greece, not lightning strikes. Moreover, 5% of the wildfires that occur are responsible for burning 80% of the total burned areas. This leads to the conclusion that not all wildfires are catastrophic. Only a small fraction of them escapes firefighting efforts and burn vast areas. The big question is which fires are these, and how can they be identified? No answer has been given to this. And this happens because the answer is absolutely obvious – that is, you cannot do anything, for example, when there are 8 and 9 Beaufort winds blowing, where there are no planes flying, but the spot spreading of the fire ceases, spots and burns are created and the fire is not dealt with, or when the firefighting forces do not manage to put it out initially. If we could concentrate all available resources on the five wildfires that burn 80% of the land, we could reduce the total areas burned by four-fifths.
What is the overall impact of mega-fires on the ecosystem?
What matters most is the frequency of wildfires in each area – what we call the fire regime. If a wildfire occurs every five years and this pattern repeats four times over a 20-year period, it is almost certain that this area will never regenerate into a forest again. And this happens because pine trees, from year zero to five years old, do not have enough time to produce cones and generate new seeds before they burn. As a result, four moderate wildfires over two decades are far more destructive than two large fires, one at the beginning and one at the end of the 20-year period.
If human impact becomes too frequent, if mountain forests are turned into wind farms, if lowland forests are turned into building plots, if forest management ceases while fires occur every now and then, then yes, forests will eventually disappear
You have stated that “the Dadia forest, as we knew it, will never be seen again”
It’s simple arithmetic. The black pine trees where the black vultures nested were 120, 130, or even 150 years old. It will take the same amount of time for such trees to grow again – if they ever do. As a result, the specific nesting habitat that black vultures had chosen for breeding and reproducing can no longer exist in the same way. Unfortunately, reality has confirmed this. A large part of the Dadia black vulture population has now moved to Bulgaria or the Black Sea.
How optimistic are you about the future?
I firmly believe, and I say this even if others disagree, that forests are not a renewable natural resource. They have an expiration date, and at the rate we’re going, in a few decades, we won’t have forests as we know them today. Mediterranean forests may be fire-resistant and capable of regenerating after wildfires, but if fires become too frequent, if human impact intensifies, if mountain forests are turned into wind farms, if lowland forests are converted into building plots, and if forest management ceases, leading to recurring fires, then yes, forests will eventually disappear or remain only in remote mountainous areas.