Blog Action Day

The view of the burnt Elliniko Hill, behind the beautiful Kaiafas Lake, a Natura 2000 site (GR2330005) that was also heavily damaged by the Peloponnese fires.

Today, is Blog Action Day and bloggers around the web are uniting to put a single important issue on everyone's mind, posting an issue of their own choice pertaining to the environment.

So, following this summer's destructive forest fires in Greece which burned over 250,000 ha of pristine land (with over 30,000 ha being in protected areas - Sites of Community Importance), took more than 60 human lives, and left our economy and infrastructure shattered, I would like to raise the issue of what were the primarily causes of this massive destruction?

Putting aside all the recent "conspiracy theories", I believe the answer is quite simple (and shaming):

The Greek State’s chronic indifference and negligence to protect its forests, the inefficient and weak forest fire-fighting system and protection policy, plus the equally important mechanisms to monitor and conserve the environment.