Against fires and heat waves Athens revives the forest of myth

There is the desire to revive a forest of great historical value, but there is also the need to counter the disasters of the fires and mitigate the heat waves that have exhausted Athens in recent years. The project for the reforestation of the wooded area of ​​Capo Sounio, near the village of Agios Konstantinos north of the Greek capital, thus has great symbolic significance and enormous scientific value. A few kilometers from Thermopylae, the forest of Lario was a fundamental resource for the development of the Athens of Pericles in the 5th century before Christ, but precisely his mineral riches were also his misfortune. The savage exploitation of silver veins and lead, combined with fires, have brought the forest to a point of no return: by itself, even if there were no more fires and any activity were banned, the area would remain barren, because the soil is too impoverished for anything to grow.

There is also a bit of Italian history in the deforestation of Sounio, since a French-Italian mining company, Roux-Serpieri-Freyssinet, contributed significantly to the death of the wooded area in the last century, when the silver veins were by now exhausted. Acquired lead mining rights, to speed up work on ancient mine shafts the company set fire to oaks, carob trees and Judas trees that grew on the hills, down to the sea. Finally, two years ago, the fatal blow, when two of the worst fires of the decade burned the few trees left after another dramatic blaze in 2012.

An emblematic case of “Nature based Solutions”

“The forest could no longer regenerate naturally – he tells us Nicos Georgiadishead of reforestation projects for the Greek WWF – so since last November we have started a project with 300 volunteers, our experts and the local forestry agency, state agency researchers, to plant approximately 15,000 trees and shrubs in the area. It is not just a question of reviving the forest, but of making it more resistant to fires: “The common goal is to save the area by contributing to the creation of a new forest that will be more resistant to fires and, at the same time, will significantly improve biodiversity, protecting adjacent human activities and increasing tourism possibilities”.

The Sounio forest thus becomes an emblematic case of NbS, Nature based solution, that is, solutions that base their approach on ecosystems. Georgiadis explains: “The choice of the specific area was not random, it was based on a study prepared by WWF Greece for the areas affected by fires in 2021. This study mapped all the areas that could need human interventions for their regeneration, taking into consideration and combining 6 parameters (type/species of vegetation, overlapping fires, slope, exposure, altitude and geological background).In any case, beyond all the elements that make Lario the ideal site for this type of projects, the area also has great cultural value and is of strong archaeological interest. This reforestation was planned and carried out taking into account the protection of the numerous archaeological finds in the area”.

To mitigate heat waves

Then there is the need for action to mitigate global warming and CO emissions₂ in a country and a capital, Athens precisely, which he registered record heat waves. “Forest ecosystems generally create a special microclimate within their borders – confirms the WWF expert -. In addition, they are also climate regulators in a radius that far exceeds the limits of their diffusion, therefore the forest of Agios Konstantinos has an impact on the climate of Athens. In addition to their function of carbon storage, forests act as natural filters, cleaning the surrounding atmosphere of micro-particles. Any forest close to a densely populated residential area such as that of Athens contributes cumulative to the above.While even the revival of Sounio alone might not lead to a significant effect on the microclimate of Athens, the reforestation large-scale restoration of surrounding forest ecosystems can make all the difference.”

The file

It takes twenty years to make a forest (and defend it). A fire plan for our trees

by Cristina Nadotti

06 September 2021

However, it takes decades to revive a forest and once new plants have been planted, great care is needed. The area remains at risk of fires and for this reason the choice of what to plant is fundamental. The Forestry District of Lavrio, with scientists from the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems (IMFE) and WWF Greece has prepared a study specifically for the area in question, suggesting the most suitable species of plants to be planted in specific points also at within the affected area.

“In the area – underlines Georgiadis – an innovative approach to planting has been applied, with a mix of conifers and broad-leaved species, above all locust oaks and carob trees (30% and 70% respectively) which were already found in the forest previously . No plant has been planted at random, each tree and group of plants has been chosen on the basis of a detailed planwhich took into account the morphology, soil, orientation and inclination of each sub-region to be restored”.

Now it’s a question of taking care of the seedlings and waiting for the results on the ecosystem. “The variety and mixture of these different species, with an emphasis on hardwoods, is expected to lead not only to an improvement in biodiversity and enhance the aesthetic value of the new forest, but also to make the forest more resistant to fires. , – concludes the WWF expert – limiting both their intensity and their spread, thus giving valuable time for the suppression of forest fires at an early stage”.