“Last summer we experienced unprecedented high temperatures that led to fires of 600 degrees Celsius. This showed us in the harshest way that we must change the way we deal with natural disasters,” said the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylias. , speaking to the Financial Times, also warned that the summer will be difficult.
In their report, FT describes in detail the strategy that the government will implement this year for the firefighting period, emphasizing that “Greece is intensifying its efforts to fight forest fires, hiring more specialized firefighters and planes and increasing the cost of firefighting. last year’s fires that destroyed 1.3 million hectares of forest area “. The FT added that “the government has more than 152 million euros this year for additional firefighting aircraft and clearing and maintenance of forest areas”.
At the same time, the FT refer to data from the WWF according to which 80% of the scorched earth in Europe is in the Mediterranean, while they emphasize that southern Europe has become more vulnerable due to the climate crisis.
In the interview, Mr. Stylianidis also talks about the bureaucratic obstacles he has faced: “There is such a overlap of responsibilities that greatly complicates the decision-making process”, he underlines, expressing his regret for the bureaucratic labyrinth of the Greek public sector.
According to the FT, Mr. Stylianidis also referred to the fire brigade, saying that it is understaffed and old, with low morale and low salaries, he also emphasizes that this year 500 forest rangers with special training will help fight fires and operate in forests throughout year, while he adds that the air fleet will be strengthened this year, as Greece will have a total of 86 aircraft compared to 74 last year. “We are increasing many forest patrols and for the first time involving the army and volunteers,” he said, adding that planning has focused more on prevention.
“No one can deal with these catastrophic fires on their own. Nowadays, this issue is beyond national capabilities,” he said. , in which Greece will host about 250 firefighters from six European countries to contribute and offer assistance during the summer months.In addition, according to the program, Greek firefighters will be sent to Northern European countries during the winter months for The program is funded by the European Commission and after the first test in Greece could be applied in other countries.
Source: Capital
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