If Greece manages to escape this summer without losing large expanses of forest to uncontrolled wildfires, it will be thanks to a large dose of luck.
A report in today’s Ta Nea (link in Greek) highlights the ‘dangerous shortages’ of equipment and fire fighting planes which are the product of years of budget cutbacks.
Greece has one of the largest fleets of firefighting aircraft with 23 planes in total. However some of these have been in service for as long as four decades while many of the newer ones are also in need of repairs. In the best case scenario only 14 in total will be operational and prepared to tackle any potential wildfires according to the report.
However even 14 out of 23 is probably optimistic. In the article Giorgos Vintzileos, a member of the board of the Union of Fire Service Officers, is quoted as saying, “This year we are already down one Canadair 415, and a new one at that - the one that made a sea landing recently with a serious fault. Another two-three [of the older model] CL 215s cannot be maintained. So relative to last year we believe we will have 3-4 fewer Canadairs. From 11 last summer, only 8 are ready.”
With the country sweltering in a mini-heatwave numerous blazes have already broken out. As of the time of writing firefighters on the ground assisted by 4 planes and one helicopter are attempting to gain control of a wildfire in Malesina in Fthiotida which has been raging since Thursday. Another fire in Galataki in the region of Corinth is now under control after having burnt multiple acres of olive trees, scrub and pine forest as well as at least one home. Firefighters are also battling a fire in low vegetation of the Pikilo Oros hill in Western Attica.
In total 79 fires were recorded throughout the country on Thursday - a record high for the start of the summer and potentially an ominous portent of what may be to come. The risk of fires remained high on Friday due to sweltering temperatures.
Aside from the aircraft shortages, ground firefighting vehicles have also not been properly serviced or repaired according to officials quoted in the Ta Nea report, with many in need of new tires. Furthermore firefighters’ helmets, boots and fire resistant clothing have not been renewed. As a result firefighters are forced either to go into fires with shoddy equipment (eg helmets past their expiration dates) or pay out of their own pockets for equipment. Needless to say these shortages make life harder and more risky for the firefighters who already face a difficult and dangerous task.
Unsurprisingly the reason for the shortages is the lack of funds as the budget of the Fire Service has been slashed over the past few years. Yet while such an action may have improved the country’s balance sheet, it has left it exposed to a potentially catastrophic loss of the natural resource that are its forests, and leads one to wonder if the country is saving money today only to face a much, much higher cost down the line.
Weaker legal protections
Meanwhile the government, at the demand of the troika, is intent on compounding the practical difficulties in protecting the country’s forests by introducing a new bill that would loosen the legal protections of natural areas as well.
It is expected that the government will soon submit a bill to parliament that will relax the laws governing the protection of the country’s greenfield areas. The legislation is a Memorandum requirement demanded by the troika to be passed by the end of the month as one of the conditions for the release of the next tranche of bailout loans for Greece. Effectively its purpose is to facilitate tourist and industrial developments in areas currently protected under the Forest Code and legalise existing violations.
The government had previously submitted the bill for public consultation towards the end of 2013, but withdrew it in the face of angry opposition. Among other measures, the legislation would reduce the protection of Natura 2000 sites in Greece and open the way for intensive developments in protected and valuable ecosystems.
Perhaps most dangerously, the bill as it was originally written would weaken the law that mandates that forested areas destroyed by wildfires be allowed to recover and not be reclassified. Needless to say a weakening of this provision - already incompletely enforced - would effectively give a green light to those considering arson to get rid of a pesky forest standing in the way of a lucrative development.
Of the legislation the Greek branch of the WWF stated, “whatever the shortages or even improvements in the mechanism for fighting wildfires, they are rendered impotent in the face of legislation which gives incentives to all manner of arsonists and land-grabbers.”
“On the one hand there is a lack of political will (to finish the absolutely necessary and fundamental tools such as the Forestry maps and Registry),” Dr Eva Koraki, head of forest programs of WWF Greece said, “and on the other we see draft legislation which degrades the natural wealth of the country by offering ‘incentives’ for wildfires set by arsonists.”She added:
“The removal of the protective shield of the Forest Code for natural areas… will do anything but prevent fires in our forests.”PressProject
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