Greek wildfire's burned 97,000 hectares of forest: WWF
Pastor Dale Morgan
Greek wildfire's burned 97,000 hectares of forest: WWF*
ATHENS, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2007
Disastrous fires that swept through southern Greece in August destroyed
more than 97,000 hectares of forest, with about a third of it protected
natural habitats, an environmental group said Thursday.
The fires in the Peloponnese peninsula south of Athens burned over
170,000 hectares (420,000 acres) overall, including agricultural land
mostly covered in olive groves, a study compiled by WWF's Greek branch
and scientists at Aristotelio University in northern Greece said.
More than 800 homes and nearly 800 stables were destroyed, according to
Greek environment ministry figures, in blazes that raged from August 24
to September 3.
The flames also ravaged seven sites listed under the Natura 2000
European network of protected natural habitats -- a centrepiece of EU
strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity -- to an extent of between
eight and 50 percent.
The sites in question include the mountain reserves of Taygetos and
Parnonas and the surroundings of Lake Kaiafa near the town of Zacharo,
an area where most of the 67 people killed by the fires died.
WWF Hellas director Dimitris Karavellas said the group would monitor the
area's recovery and form a legal team of "environment advocates" to keep
an eye on land encroachment cases.
"Villas and towns must not be allowed to grow in the area, as often
happens in these cases in Greece," he told a news conference.
He added that effective safeguards should be put in place to help the
recovery of local flora and fauna, which includes jackals, turtles,
hedgehogs and lizards.
Last month's fires burned more than 200,000 hectares of land in total,
including blazes on the island of Evia northeast of Athens.