Hundreds of firefighters continued to fight Tuesday, July 26, for the sixth consecutive day, to try to save from a fire one of the most important national parks in Greece, which is home to three of the four species of vultures in Europe.
“It is very difficult to control the fire because the vegetation is very dense“, told AFP a spokesperson for the fire brigade, while more than 2,500 hectares of pine forest have already been lost since Thursday in the Dadia National Park, about 900 kilometers northeast of Athens. The firefighters are particularly active in “expand firewallsto try to curb the spread of the fire, Dimitris Petrovits, deputy governor of the Evros region (northeast), told the press on Tuesday. More than 300 firefighters, four planes and six helicopters are engaged, he said.
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“Incalculable” damage
The 428 km2 park is one of the most important protected areas in Europe, offering an ideal habitat for rare birds of prey, and it is home to the only nesting population of black vultures in the Balkans. The park has already suffered damage “incalculable», «it’s a big shock“, commented its deputy director, Anna Konstantinidou, on public television ERT. “The (bird) observatory was completely destroyed. The main objective now is to save the most important area that contains the Cinereous Vulture nests“, she added. The park is home to three of Europe’s four vulture species – the black vulture, griffon vulture and Egyptian vulture – and 36 of Europe’s 38 raptor species. As well as 104 species of butterflies, 13 of amphibians, 29 of reptiles and about 65 of mammals, including 24 of bats.
Greece is particularly vulnerable to fires in the summer. Nearly 60 forest fires have broken out there in the past 24 hours, according to the fire services. Last week, temperatures reached 42°C in some areas of the country. They have since declined slightly. In 2021, forest fires destroyed 103,000 hectares in Greece and killed three people. Scientists say human-induced climate change is amplifying extreme weather events – including heat waves, droughts and fires seen in parts of Europe and California in recent weeks – increasing both their intensity , their duration and frequency.
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