ECOCLUB, Issue 93
_____
_____
17
ECOCLUB MONITOR
Greek Fires
Greek fire usually refers to the inflammatory concoction with which Byzantine Greeks used to set alight
enemy ships. True to byzantine thinking, especially during election time, everyone was blamed for the fires
ranging from “foreign spies”, “anarchists”, “asymmetric threats”, “opposition elements”, to motorway and
tourist developers and land speculators. The sad truth is that this disaster (68 lives lost, 2.5 million acres
burnt, 12% of total forest land) mostly in the southern Peloponnese peninsula, is simply due to a complex
combination of extreme weather (3 weeks over 40 degrees Celsius, no rain for 5 months), chronic fire
brigade understaffing & underfunding, political appointments at key fire brigade posts, side lining & decay
of the forest service which used to be quite effective in prevention measures, inappropriate waste
management policies at village level, undermaintained electric power line routes crossing natural areas, and,
to a smaller degree, arson for a multitude of reasons ranging from land speculation, to score-settling among villagers to misguided, attention-
seeking youth. The center-right government, recently re-elected, largely indifferent about environmental causes had attempted to revise Article
24 of the constitution which declares all forest land as belonging to the state, but this was seen as one more controversial privatisation attempt,
was opposed by all environmentalists and was blocked by the opposition, with some key government MPs even voting against their own party.
Our equally lethargic local government however is as much to blame as the central government. Environmental awareness is also low, but this
*may* change if the administration and media properly explains the reasons for the fires - rather than engage in a witch-hunt. The electoral
result, where a new Green Party for the first time received 1.08% of the vote was seen as a direct result of the fires. Not all was lost, the
famous world heritage site of Olympia was successfully defended. Fires are a natural phenomenon in the mediterranean landscape. Pine
forests burn easily thanks to resin and flying cones but also auto-regenerate easily (also thanks to the flying cones) so there is hope, especially
as the rainy season is near, although rains have already been delayed by a month with meteorologists predicting dry, warm weather until
December. International contributions in the form of fire-fighting aircraft & personnel (& financial assistance) were forthcoming and much
needed even though Greece has one of the largest fire-fighting fleets in the world. Interestingly there was one very affluent country that
instead of aid, suggested that Greece lease the aircraft of a private company. (perhaps this is how one becomes very affluent?).
As far as
Tourism is concerned, the Peloponnese needs to avoid mega-projects in the devastated areas. The fires should not give the green light to
tourism & golf developers of mega-resorts and sprawling villa developments. The pressure to develop in such a manner will be even greater,
with profiteering masquerading as poverty alleviation and reconstruction. We need ecological, low-key Tourism, not a resort monoculture.
The signs are ominous: four days before election day the then vice-minister of Economics (now moved to another ministry) and President of
the Greek Golf Federation, signed a decree offering a 259 hectare coastal Natura protected area to the municipality of Zaharo for tourism
development, causing a hostile reaction from the Minister of the Environment. The project is presented online in four languages, in a manner
that speaks for itself: “The municipality of Zacharo intends to create a model village consisting of identical wooden houses and with the right
to build on an unlimited number of square metres per unit.” The move has provoked the wrath of all opposition parties, with the Ecologists-
Greens Party pledging that they will be trying to block this development through legal means.
Greek Islanders protest against National Marine Park
A crisis, lesser in scale yet reminiscent of the Galapagos conflict between park officials and local businessmen & fishermen, took place during
August 2007 brewing in the otherwise quiet and offbeat island of Alonissos, part of the Sporades island group in North Western Aegean.
Alonissos is the only inhabited island of the Alonissos National marine park, which was set up in 1992 to protect the endangered Monachus
mediterranean monk seal (only 300-400 remaining in Greek seas). The park includes Alonissos and 8 uninhabited islands, some of which had
previously served as navy practice targets. With an area of 2,200 square km, it is the largest marine protected area in the Mediterranean, at
least on paper, and the only one to have a hospitalisation facility for seals. A gradual decline in traditional Tourism, and the failure of nature
tourism to materialise may have led to the crisis and the protests by local businesses. Alonissos has few tourism attractions besides the marine
park, as architecture in the local port Patitiri is modern & non-distinct, in sharp contrast to quaint neighbouring Skopelos, while the island
lacks the iconic sandy beaches or quality accommodation facilities of Skiathos island. The park is vast and impossible to see in a typical day
trip and not exotic enough to attract nature tourists, with monk seals being very shy animals. Local business interests attempted on the 3rd of
August to occupy the offices of the marine park, however they were resisted by office personnel, and thus confined themselves to blocking
entrance to the office and throwing eggs & yogurt to the building. The police initially kept a low profile, not wanting to take sides. Then on
August the 4th a protester verbally abused and physically attacked the coordinator of the Alonissos park Vassilis Kouroutos (see ECOCLUB
Interview), a leading marine biologist and veteran conservationist, who pressed charges. A few vandalisms later, the police and the district
attorney intervened, leading to an uneasy truce. The local protesters feared/alleged that they were being held 'hostage' to a 'strict' conservation
regime which 'scares away' tourists and developers.They were particularly irate about patrols and spot checks (and fines) to boats carrying
tourists within the marine park. A petition with 1,500 signatures was sent to Ministers, local MPs and the prefecture of Magnesia, demanding a
renegotiation of park boundaries. Allies appeared in unlikely places: the current head of MoM, the society for the protection of the
Mediterranean seal (ironically - founded & previously headed by Vassilis Kouroutos) was quoted by an Athens daily traditionally supportive
of the (300,000 strong) recreational hunting & fishing community, that the park authorities 'were to blame' for falling out with the local
community. What is clear, and as in the case of the other greek national marine park in Zakynthos, a ‘national’ parks can not survive without
‘local’ support, while gaining hearts and minds (and stomachs!) requires far more than central government edicts. On the other hand,
environmental conservation should not take the back seat to short-sighted but locally powerful, private economic interests. On the brighter
side, the ANMP reports that two baby seals were born in late September in the park.
Pelopponese on fire – August 2007
