News
General Interest
Faculty Commentary: Fueling and fighting wildland fire in Greece
August 31, 2007
By Barbara Morehouse
Barbara Morehouse is deputy director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Geography and Regional Development at The University of Arizona. She is studying wildland fire and management in Greece, and currently is writing her research for peer-review publication.
Wildfires burning in Greece since August 24 have ravaged communities and olive groves, claimed at least sixty-four lives, and sparked outrage among Greeks over their government’s handling of the country’s worst conflagrations in decades.
Fire essentially is the same the world over, but the wildfires in Greece are unique, characterized by a brew of biophysical, policy, social, and cultural factors—some of which are not being thoroughly reported in mainstream media.
Ecology and climate are two biophysical forces that drive wildfires in Greece as part of a natural process. From Turkey to Spain, pyro-landscapes dominate large areas of the northern Mediterranean. Like our southwestern forests, the trees growing on these lands have adapted over time to periodic burning. Fine fuels, such as grasses, emerge every winter during the rainy season only to dry quite rapidly once the summer season arrives. Frequent, low-intensity fires serve to clear out these fuels, provide the necessary heat to release pine tree seeds, and restore nutrients to the soil. For centuries, the grazing of sheep and goats, as well as the burning practices of shepherds that improved pasture conditions, also served to control fuel loads.
Meteorological and climatological patterns in the region contribute to varying degrees of fire risk from one season to another and from one year to another. This summer, three searing heat waves struck the area in relatively rapid succession. The heat, combined with the drying effects of strong winds that buffet Greece every summer, extracted whatever residual moisture remained in the vegetation and soil.
The natural balance of fire and renewal in Greece could be upset in the near future. Climate models indicate that the area is likely to transform into an even hotter and drier landscape during the twenty-first century. Key species in the current forest stands, which are adapted to the present climate, may not be able to recover from fire, propagate, and thrive under the anticipated climatic conditions. Research has already indicated that forest stands that have burned repeatedly over relatively few years do not regenerate. Evidence of this is readily apparent in places like the island of Chios, where large areas are virtually denuded of all but thornscrub vegetation.
Fire risk is also fueled by social and economic processes. Over the course of the twentieth century, poverty, war, and economic policies removed from the landscape many of the very people who knew best how to manage the fire-prone land, who were rooted in the land, and who had an intimate knowledge of how to navigate the often rugged and precipitous terrain. Massive and repeated waves of migration depopulated much of the Greek countryside. Young people from the villages abandoned rural landscapes, including pastures, olive groves, and orchards, for better prospects abroad and in Greek cities. In some depopulated areas, forests have expanded; in many others, although olive oil production remains high in Greece, there are many untended groves and orchards that have become derelict and increasingly fire-prone.
The sources of some of the recent fires likely will never be known. Greek officials have said that at least some of the fires, which come on the heels of deadly blazes in June and July—could be the work of arsonists. Emerging evidence suggests that a mixture of negligence and destructive intent may be to blame. A recent map of fire locations displays a distinctive pattern of fires near Athens and in seaside areas—as well as in the Taygetos Mountains—that at least hints at destructive intent because almost all the fires have ignited in or near important tourist areas.
Research has found a statistical correlation between arson and election cycles. The next national election is scheduled for September. The prevailing explanation for the election year fires is that arson, combined with political bribery, is a fairly assured way to obtain land for development. Greek law forbids construction on the nation's forest lands, while in many areas strong pressure exists to develop these lands for purposes such as residential use and tourism facilities. Complicating matters is an ongoing argument about whether all the lands claimed by the national government as national forests actually are forests. Lack of effective documentation, such as a coherent land registry, is one of the main problems: once a fire has burned, it may be impossible for the government to prove that the land was indeed forested before the fire occurred. Critics claim that Greek forest policy places undue restrictions on development activity. Many Greeks maintain that developers set fires then pass bribes to key political candidates running for election. Once elected, the official finds ways to transfer ownership to the developers. Even though a law exists banning construction and requiring reforestation of burned-over lands, skepticism is rampant about its enforcement.
Prompted by a spate of extensive fires in the 1990s, Greece has enhanced its firefighting force over the past nine years. Tragically, the intensity and scope of this year's fires exceeded professional firefighters' capacity to protect people, villages, and ecosystems. At the request of the Greek government, firefighters from other European countries helped battle the blazes.
Local towns and villages in many parts of Greece support their own volunteer fire departments, which operate largely independently of the professional brigades and often possess only old, insufficient equipment and few financial resources. These volunteer efforts reflect the deeply embedded sense of responsibility that exists among residents to remain and protect their families, livestock, farmland, and homes from flame, and some were injured or died this summer doing just that. Evacuations typically are reserved for the very young and the very old. Residents' inclination to stay and fight is quite understandable. Their livelihoods often depend on it, and history runs deep and local loyalties survive, both among the remaining residents and among the many family members who return to the villages for their summer holidays.
If you visit Greece, or most anywhere else in the Mediterranean, look beyond the antiquities and beaches and think about what living with fire really means. Living with fire is different from extinguishing blazes with beefed up fire brigades. Local people lived with fire for millennia, but their traditional culture, their ways of knowing and caring for the land, are increasingly jeopardized by a combination of inappropriate policies and practices, and by climate-related impacts over which they have no control.