The trees of Epirus are something special. Long time. After all, the famous oak of Dodona once stood in this forested region in the northwest of Greece. The voice of godfather Zeus supposedly spoke from the noise of her leaves and the whip of the pigeons in her crown - at least that's how the idea in antiquity. The oak of Dodona was one of the most influential oracles at the time.
Such stories are still alive in Epirus. The region is still surrounding its own spell. Dense forests cover the high mountains and narrow gorges, waterfalls and rushing rivers make their way through the country. Even a few bears and wolves roam around there. But fewer and fewer people live in the forest region. "In the mountains of Epirus, the number of inhabitants has shrunk as much as is nowhere else in Greece," says Gavriil Xanthopoulos from the Greek agricultural research institute "Demeter". From 2001 to 2011 alone, almost a quarter of residents from the region migrated. The Greek statistics authority in the mountain village Theodoriana recorded the strongest loss: the population fell by 83 percent.
However, the rural exodus has also covered other regions of Greece. Especially for economic reasons, many people move from the mountains to the lowlands and especially to the cities. In 1960, 44 percent of the Greeks lived in the country, it was only 22 percent in 2016. Gavriil Xanthopoulos fulfills this development with concern. The forester is an expert in forest fires. And that fire has been flaming more and more often lately has to do not only with climate change, but also with the changed use of the country.
A summer the extreme bag of Greece
How serious the problem is became apparent in the summer of 2021. At that time, fires were raging in many Mediterranean countries, southern and central Greece were also hit hard. Although the official forest fire season lasts from the beginning of May to the end of October, 500 hectares on the Aegean island of Andros were already on fire on April 4. The more weeks passed, the more critical the situation became. At the beginning of August, satellite images showed huge areas of fire and plumes of smoke over the land.
"The 2021 forest fire season has been the third part of the records since the beginning of the records," says Xanthopoulos. The fire brigade had massive problems to bring the situation under control, "even though so many planes and helicopters have never been used to fight the fire from the air". Despite all the efforts, the fires devastated more than 130,000 hectares - an area of half the size of the Saarland. Volunteers died, numerous people had to be evacuated, buildings and infrastructure were badly damaged.
Meteorologists, however, were not surprised by the disaster. At the end of July, a record-breaking heat wave had broken over the country. For ten days, temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius prevailed. Heat and drought had created the perfect conditions for extensive fires in the relevant areas at that time, according to the analysis of a team led by Theodore Giannaros of the National Observatory in Athens.
There are actually nothing unusual in the landscapes around the Mediterranean. The summer were hot and dry, flash strikes regularly the vegetation. Many plant species have adapted to this fire regime, some even benefit from it. Cork oaks, for example, protect themselves from the flames with their extremely thick bark. Even if the branches are burned, many trees can drive out at the base or underground. The pines of the pines burst open in high heat so that their seeds can spread slightly. And in some cistrolle plants, heat and smoke trigger the germination of the seeds.
But there is a problem. Humans have now massively changed the natural fire regime - and thus brought themselves into difficulties. "We have been seeing more and more and larger landscapes in Greece since 1980," says Johann Georg Goldammer from the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), a branch of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry at the University of Freiburg. Nowadays, the fires usually do not ignite a lightning strike, but man. Therefore, they often arise at the edges of urban and industrial areas or near villages, courtyards and tourism centers. Accordingly, the risk that people and their possessions in the flames will also increase.
Particularly devastating was a fire that raged in Mati, east of Athens, in July 2018, which claimed the lives of about 100 people. After that, the then Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras set up an independent commission of forest fire experts, which Goldammer put together. The goal was to analyze the reasons for the growing fire danger and improve the situation. "We handed over our report to the Greek government in February 2019," recalls Commission Head Goldammer.
A result of the study: not only climate change is to blame for the increasing fire disease. The situation is intensified because more and more people live in easily flammable landscapes. "There are essentially two reasons for this," says Gavriil Xanthopoulos, who works in the expert commission. And both are related to the trend towards rural exodus, which can be seen so clearly in regions such as Epirus.
How the protective belts around the villages are atrophying
Many people have migrated from small places to the rapidly growing cities. However, life there has become more stressful due to the steadily increasing population. "Since the 1980s, more and more people have bought a holiday home near the cities," explains Xanthopoulos. In addition, new suburbs were created quickly and without careful planning. The cities soaked up into the landscape all around. Gradually, transition areas between the city and the country, in which the risk of fire is particularly large. People are often traveling there who burn grilling, burn waste and pursue other fireplaces. Fire therefore break out significantly more frequently and lighter than before - the danger to humans increases.
While more and more people are moving to the city, the population in the countryside is shrinking at the same time. Mostly the younger ones move away, which is why the average age in the countryside is also increasing. "As a result, many areas there are no longer cultivated so intensively or not at all," says Goldammer. This development is literally incendiary. Because traditional land uses reduced the risk of fire.
"Schäfer, for example, used to burn out the old grass from last year because the animals no longer eat it," explains the expert. So the sheep filled their stomachs with freshly driven green. At the same time, the dry grass also disappeared potential fuel. But since it attracts people to the cities, hardly anyone has had the old techniques. "Maybe you could reactivate these methods," says Goldammer. However, new laws would be necessary. In addition, more people would have to learn how to fight fire with fire.
More and more combustible material is not only left on sheep pastures. The same applies to old fields, gardens, vineyards and olive groves, on which bushes and trees, grass and scrub grow. In the past, these areas were like fire protection belts around the villages. If a fire had broken out, it found little food on the cultivated areas. But because there is hardly any traditional agriculture left, this protection is lost. "So now the fires are hitting the villages with full force," says Xanthopoulos.
Even in the forests, it doesn't look better in the forests. The use of firewood for heating and cooking has decreased sharply since the 1980s. The forest management also has no more money and capacities to continue potential fuel. In many places, the flames are therefore planting over large, coherent areas. "Although Greece has invested more and more money in extinguishing technology since 1998, we have not yet seen the desired success," says Xanthopoulos.
How fire protection could be improved
So what has to happen? The expert commission presented a number of recommendations - the responsible state bodies would have to cooperate more closely, the population should be increasingly involved in fire protection, the control strategies should be adapted, for example the fire brigade should not only extinguish from the air, but also on the ground advance. "Above all, we have to attach much more emphasis on prevention," emphasizes Xanthopoulos.
A renaissance of traditional forms of use could help here. An international research team led by Erwin Bergmeier from the University of Göttingen is calling for the return of forest pasture. Oak forests with loose trees, in which animals keep the ground vegetation short, would have a tradition in many Mediterranean countries. Especially goats and sheep would eat away surrounding, easily flammable scrub and branches. What the group envisages for the Mediterranean landscapes of the future is a mosaic of natural, grazed and otherwise used forests, variously cultivated farmland and other traditional forms of use. Such a landscape is significantly less susceptible to fire than contiguous plantations with coniferous and eucalyptus trees, as they grow today in many Mediterranean countries.
"However, it is very difficult to revive old uses," says Xanthopoulos. Extensive planning and financial support are needed for this. In order for people to live in the country, they would have to find attractive living conditions there - from a nationwide mobile phone network and fast internet to schools and hospitals. Above all, however, traditional agriculture would have to throw enough to life. A promotion of sheep farming had already been successful in many regions of Greece.
Xanthopoulos also has an idea that would hardly cost the state money. For this, the authorities would have to provide public land located between already existing olive groves and vineyards. Those interested could plant more olive trees or vines there and thus create a fire protection belt. "For example, they could be given the right to cultivate these areas for 50 years," the forest scientist thinks. "In return, they would have to commit to keeping the site grass-free during the fire season.«
Such ideas and their implementation are urgently needed for the future. Because climate change should further tighten the risk of fire. A team led by Anastasios Rovithakis from the Technical University of Crete simulated with various computer models how the risk of fire could develop in different framework conditions. Especially with largely unchecked greenhouse gas emissions, the results do not draw a calming picture. At the end of the 21st century, Greece could experience more critical fire weather annually than at the end of the 20th century. Some regions in the south and east of the country even threaten 40 days of fire. The previous recipes for fire fighting will hardly be sufficient. To recognize this, you don't even have to listen to the noise of the oaks of Epirus and question the Zeus oracle. It is enough to talk to experts.
