Greece: A violent forest fire threatens one of the largest natural parks
A forest fire in Dadia National Park, in the Evros region, Greece, on July 26, 2022. © REUTERS - ALEXANDROS AVRAMIDIS
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
While Greece has been facing a heat wave since the weekend of July 24 and 25, fires are increasing across the country.
The most devastating of them started last week, in Dadia National Park, in northeastern Greece.
About 300 firefighters have engaged in the fight against the flames in this protected forest area, one of the largest in the country, which benefits from the European Natura 2000 label.
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With our correspondent in Athens,
Joël Bronner
In the Greek region of Evros, bordering Turkey, the Dadia National Park has been engulfed in flames since Thursday July 21.
Some 20,000 hectares of forest could already have been covered by fire, according to estimates put forward by the Greek daily
Kathimerini
.
Only positive, some of these areas seem to have been partially spared, with charred grass on the ground, but trees preserved.
Proof of the environmental importance of the place and the vigor of the fire, the Greek Minister for the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis, went there this weekend.
He then spoke of “
a difficult struggle (…) to ensure the survival of [a] exceptional ecosystem
”.
In Dadia, 30,000 hectares are described, according to Greek terminology, as “
strictly protected
”.
However, the entire forest covers a total area six times larger.
The mentioned ecosystem brings together at least 400 different plants, a hundred species of butterflies or even thirty reptiles.
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But it is mainly from its status as a shelter for birds of prey - and in particular vultures - that Dadia Park draws its notoriety.
However, the observatory devoted to these birds has already gone up in smoke.
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