The smoke lies like a cloud over the sky. The sun is shining, the sweat is pouring. The protractor shows 36 degrees in the shade. In the air above the national park Dadia in Evros on the border with Turkey, you can see and hear a constant helicopter and airplane spreading and scooping up water. On Thursday, a forest fire started on the edge of the nature reserve. Eleni Makrygianni, director of the national park Dadia Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news The director of the national park, Eleni Makrygianni, says that the fire has spread since then. And that it has gone quickly. Several plant and animal species are truga. On the night of Sunday, the inhabitants of the village of Dadia were evacuated. The fire was then 600 meters from the village. There have been fires in the national park before, but never in the protected and mature area. – There are several small fires spread out, with a high risk of further spread, says Makrygianni. Helicopter helps in firefighting in the Dadia National Park in Greece. When the sun goes down, they can no longer contribute to putting out the fires. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news Trugar protected area In the nature reserve you will find one of the oldest black pine trees in the entire Balkans. Trea is the nesting area of the near-extinction black vulture. Vultures do not have many other places to build nests than right here. The population is already declining in Europe. Storkar has seen himself on a lamppost on a road near the forest fire in Dadia National Park. To the right you can see the cloud of smoke from the fire. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news In addition, several other bird species nest here, which are considered to be endangered or vulnerable. One of them is the black stork, which is rare in Greece. The goal for Saturday was to prevent the fire from spreading to the oldest colony of pine trees. This is according to Sylvia Zakkak, biologist at the national park. She says that the black vulture needs large, mature trees that are between 10 and 15 meters high. – Their nests are gigantic. They are three meters wide. The governor of Evros Dimitris Petrovits (left) and biologist in the national park Sylvia Zakkak (right) work to map the fire in the nature reserve. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news If the pine trees are burned, it will take many years before they are that big again. The cause of the fire is still unknown, says the governor of Evros, Dimitris Petrovits. The entire forest is around 430 square kilometers. On Saturday morning, six to seven square kilometers had burned, according to the governor. – Why is it so important to put out this particular fire? – Because this is not just our heritage, it is nature’s heritage. The area around the administration center of Dadia National Park is one of the areas that was threatened after the flare-up on Saturday evening. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news Difficult to put out The fire brigade has not yet gained control of the fire. Because the forest is so old, and not least preserved, it is difficult to extinguish the flames. Because the forest is protected, they were not allowed to cut down trees at first, to prevent the fire from spreading too quickly. The forest is also dense with pine trees. The military, the police, the fire service, civil emergency services and municipal cooperation partners are seen in action to put out the fire. Kodja Ahmed works in the local forest management, and has come from work to help cut down trees in the area. The purpose is for the fire to lie low, so that it does not spread as quickly. On Saturday, Kodja Ahmed cut down a tree in Dadia National Park, in an attempt to prevent the fire from spreading further. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news – It’s scary, says Ahmed and explains that they work near the pine trees. The cones in burning pine wood can pop out and ignite an area several meters away. This way you can quickly be surrounded by fire, if you are unlucky. The heat is oppressive, but Ahmed says they can’t let it stop them. Drier and warmer than before, Sofia Vlachinou lives in Piraeus outside Athens, and is writing a master’s degree on how to deal with the consequences of climate change. Forest fires are not uncommon in Greece, and can occur naturally. Then nature knows how to handle it. – The point now is that they are spreading faster than before, says Vlachinou. It is the only connection between forest fires and climate change, according to Vlachunou. The changes make the weather warmer and the forest drier in summer. Sofia Vlachinou believes that Greece can get better at handling the forest fires. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news A burned-out forest is more vulnerable to flooding and heavy rain, explains Vlachinou. Seeds and nutrients in the soil can run off, so that the soil becomes dry and less fertile. In order to prevent the fire from spreading too much, Vlachinou points to several measures that the country can adopt. For example, using drones to detect a forest fire earlier, establishing fire zones and teaching people forest fire knowledge. I believe the fire was set. The helicopter and the plane cannot fly in the evening. On Saturday evening, the fire flared up again. Christos (left) and Kostos have stopped along the road to look at the fire in the Dadia National Park in the north of Greece. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news Christos and Kostos stand and look at the fire as it lights up the forest. They are almost certain that the fire was started. – They have tried in the past, but this time it looks like they have succeeded, says Christos. Christos does not think the forest can be saved this time Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news According to rumors in the local community, the fire was set so that someone could build windmills in the area. – But I don’t want to speculate on who it is. – It is incredibly sad, he says and points to the rich plant and animal life in the forest. Just before midnight, the residents of the village of Dadia were evacuated. The fire was then 600 meters away. The town is located right next to the administration in Dadia National Park. Afraid that everything will disappear In the village of Lyra, overlooking the national park, Chrysa Stavros and her children sit in the shade by a cafe. She was on her way home when she saw the big cloud of smoke rising from the forest. Chrysa Stavros shows a picture on her mobile phone from when the fire started on Thursday. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news It only took half an hour before the fire had spread several kilometres. Stavros says that she practically grew up in this forest. They went for a walk here, played and bathed in the river. – Now I am afraid that all this will disappear. Her father showed the firemen where to go and how to get through the forest. – Only the residents of the city care about the area. Not the politicians. They only care about parties and appearing in the newspaper. Eftichia Stavros takes the fire seriously. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news Daughter Eftichia says that she was sad when she saw the forest burning. – I was very upset, she says. Stavros feared that the fire would spread down to the village. Fortunately the wind was cool. Several of the residents here wanted to contribute, but were not allowed due to security concerns. The women in the village have instead found out that they have to help prepare food for the firefighters and the others who help, says Stavros.
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Fears that the entire protected forest will burn down – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
