WWF in despair over Greek fire damage

· Rare species of animals and plants lost in flames
· Anger rises as developers move in on stricken areas

Helena Smith in Athens
Friday September 28, 2007
The Guardian


A burnt-out fire truck and cars in village of Artemida in southern Greece. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty images

Two percent of the surface area of Greece was destroyed by forest fires this summer, including some of Europe's lushest nature reserves. The extent of the damage wrought by the infernos is much larger than initially thought, with rare species of reptiles, mammals and endemic plants being lost, according to the conservation group WWF.

"The destruction by far exceeds our expectations, and is more dramatic and extensive than we imagined," Dimitris Karavellas, who heads the WWF in Greece, said. "These fires were not only the worst on record, they ravaged everything. Very few patches of life, patches that are now refuges for various animal species, were left behind," he said.

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Aided by satellite maps, environmentalists have established that in six weeks the flames consumed roughly one-tenth of the country's forests, with large swaths of land inside EU-protected areas also being burned. Among the designated areas was Mount Taygetos, one of Greece's most spectacular nature reserves, which had just begun to recover from devastating blazes in 1998.

The destruction - exacerbated by the hottest summer in 50 years - will doubtless worsen if a winter of heavy rainfall follows, Mr Karavellas said.

The group's grim assessment came a month after fires erupted in the southern Peloponnese, killing 67 men, women and children, many of whom were burned alive as they tried to flee the flames.

The report's release will put further pressure on the recently re-elected conservative government, the popularity of which was badly hit by accusations of ineptitude during the conflagrations.

Alongside mounting anger over the scale of the damage, indignation is rising over the rehabilitation methods officials are resorting to in affected areas. "Everyone, it seems, wants to exploit the situation economically," Nikos Bokaris, the president of the Panhellenic Union of Foresters, said in an interview. "I have been to the stricken region and seen with my own eyes that there is absolutely no coordination of relief efforts. The confusion that allowed the fires to rage uncontrollably is now raging uncontrollably in those areas."

Greeks have been incensed by evidence that investors, scenting profit, are moving in to the Peloponnese, one of the last parts of Greece to have escaped mass tourism.

Ecologists point to a deal that paves the way for construction on up to 10 miles of virgin coastline around the southern seaside town of Zacharo. The deal, signed by the former deputy finance minister Petros Doukas and the mayor of Zacharo, Pantazis Chronopoulos, appears to have gone through, despite the region being on a list of protected sites drawn up by the EU.

The approximately 6,000 people who were made homeless by the fires have also been encouraged to ignore otherwise stringent environmental rules when they apply for housing subsidies. In the absence of a land registry and forest maps, Greeks invariably have been able to build with impunity in areas that would normally be protected.

Trail of destruction

· 300,000 hectares were burnt.

· 30,000 hectares of this were within protected areas.

· Seven designated nature reserves were affected.

· 55% of the razed area consisted of forests and other areas of vegetation.

· Habitats of rare species of golden jackals and red deer were among those destroyed.

· The fires caused a severe degradation of soil and water balance, increasing the risk of flooding.

Deadly fires finally out in Greece

ATHENS (AFP) — The forest fires that have ravaged southern Greece for the past 11 days, killing dozens of people, were finally extinguished Monday, fire services said.

At least 65 people have been killed in the Peloponnese peninsula and other areas and 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of countryside have been destroyed since August 24.

"Land forces remain on the alert at the scene to prevent any new outbreak," a fire brigade statement said at the end of a day which saw the last blazes conquered near Sparta, in the southern Peloponnese, and on Mount Parnon.

The fire service had deployed five water-bombing planes and two helicopters to Mount Parnon, which is difficult to access.

Populated areas were not threatened, a fire service spokesman said.

Nearly 100 fires per day were occurring on average last week, amid widespread anger that the government did not intervene soon enough and at the scale required.

The opposition Socialists (PASOK) have roundly attacked the government's handling of the fires with elections set for September 16. Before the tragedy, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis had appeared set for an easy electoral win.

Karamanlis has blamed arson for at least some of the fires, saying action would be taken against those responsible.

An unused fire extinguisher lies in the yard of a burnt house in the village of Rafti 01 September 2007. The forest fires that have ravaged southern Greece for the past 11 days, killing dozens of people, were finally extinguished Monday.


Information gathered from:
http://afp.google.com/a...

Main fires out; death toll rises to 65

The Associated Press Published: September 2, 2007


ATHENS, Greece: Three major fires that ravaged southern Greece for 10 days have been put out or brought under control, the Fire Service said Sunday.

The fires destroyed an estimated 190,000 hectares (469,000 acres) — most of it forest and farmland — prompting a massive relief effort but also criticism of Greece's conservative government for failing to safely evacuate villages before they were burned.

The death toll rose to 65 on Sunday when a man seriously burned in a fire on the island of Evia died in a hospital.

Authorities have not released any damage assessment, but an estimated 4,000 people lost their homes according to independent estimates based on claims for assistance by individuals and local authorities.

A Fire Service briefing report Sunday confirmed that two major fires were out and one in the southern Peloponnese region was contained.

Fires outside Megalopoli and Karytaina in the southern Peloponnese region were extinguished, the fire service said, while nine fighting planes and two helicopters had helped contain a blaze on Mount Parnon, further south.



Elsewhere in the region, six planes and four helicopters were involved in containing several other fires, all of which were described as "receding," the agency said.

Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said on Sunday, "I am in the happy position to announce ... that all the (main) fires have been put out."

Conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who faces general elections on Sept. 16, continued to survey fire-damaged areas, flying by helicopter over the island of Evia.

On Saturday, he flew over the Peloponnese with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who repeated European Union promises to provide Greece financial aid — likely to include €200 million (US$237 million) in emergency assistance and possibly a further €400 million (US$546 million) later.

"No one can remain the same after such events," Karamanlis was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday in the Athens daily Kathimerini. He blamed the fires on arsonists.

"So many fires breaking out at the same time in different places. This cannot be a coincidence," Karamanlis said, reiterating his comments of last week.

A GPO poll for private Mega television gave the conservatives 37.4 percent approval, a 1.4 point lead over the opposition Socialists, based on a survey of 1,005 people questioned Friday. No margin of error was given. The conservatives won the 2004 elections with a 4.8-point advantage.

Greece buries fire victims, hopes for autumn rain

By Michele Kambas

ARTEMIDA, Greece (Reuters) - Sobbing villagers on Sunday buried a Greek mother and her four children who died in destructive forest fires, as the first autumn rains raised hopes of dousing the flames that have killed 64 people.

Storms in northern Greece flooded two villages as firefighters continued to battle blazes in the southern Peloponnese region. Rains were expected across Greece from Sunday night.

"The burnt forests contributed to the floods, which swept cars into the sea," said fire brigade officer Giorgos Minos in the northern Halkidiki peninsula.

In the village of Artemida, perched on a charred Peloponnese mountain, about 200 villagers attended the funeral of the mother found dead still clutching her children, the most shocking image of the inferno's trail of destruction.

"I have run out of tears. Will it bring her and the children back?" said Loukia Papadimitropoulos, 64, one of black-clad villagers who sobbed as a string of hearses carried the white coffins to the village church.

The fires have raged for 10 days, forcing thousands to flee their homes, burning villages and large swathes of forest. On Sunday, an injured man died in hospital, raising the death toll to 64, including 7 firemen.

Seven charged over Greek fires

Greek authorities have charged seven people with starting a number of forest fires that have so far claimed 63 lives.

Anti-terrorist authorities said they were joining the investigation, and it is thought one possible motive could be that unscrupulous property developers were hoping to move in on the areas where forest has been destroyed.

This comes as firefighters backed by an international force battled the flames for a fifth day.

Meanwhile, Greek opposition MPs have attacked the government's response to the devastating fires.

In the capital, Athens, hundreds of people took to the streets in protest, many blaming the government.

Information gathered from: http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0828/greece.html