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Charred vehicles damaged by wildfires sit in an impound lot in Kato Achaia, near Patra, western Greece, August 13, 2025. [AP]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
WWF Greece on Wednesday urged authorities to strengthen wildfire prevention and improve coordination as the country enters its annual fire season, warning that the success of new policies will hinge on swift implementation.<\/p>\n
The environmental organization welcomed a new legal framework, \u201cActive Battle\u201d (Law 5281\/2026), which aims to place prevention at the center of Greece\u2019s wildfire strategy. However, it stressed that its effectiveness will depend entirely on how quickly and efficiently it is put into practice, including the rollout of regulatory decisions, activation of new tools and close coordination among all involved agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cEffective forest protection does not begin when the first smoke appears. It starts months earlier, with clear goals, continuous preparation, funding for prevention, and cooperation among the state, the scientific community, local authorities, volunteers and local communities,\u201d said Nicos Georgiadis, WWF Greece\u2019s terrestrial program coordinator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s wildfire season is a critical test for the transition to a modern, comprehensive policy of prevention and risk management that will assess and generate new knowledge to continuously improve the forest protection system in our country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Immediate priorities<\/h3>\n
WWF outlined a series of immediate priorities to strengthen preparedness and response, including mobilizing public participation through a registry of auxiliary civil protection forces, improving firefighting operations with clearer roles and stronger coordination, and integrating real-time meteorological analysis into decision-making. It also called for systematic scientific evaluation of fires, the adoption of prevention practices such as prescribed burns and controlled grazing, expanded use of volunteer groups and clearer guidance for municipalities to implement local prevention plans.<\/p>\n
The warning comes after a particularly severe fire season. The 2025 wildfire season ranked among the five most destructive of the past two decades, according to a joint review by WWF Greece and the FLAME fire meteorology research group of the Meteo unit at the National Observatory of Athens.<\/p>\n
Data showed that 47,828 hectares of land were burned, based on mapping by the European EFFIS system, with the total estimated to exceed 50,000 hectares when smaller fires are included. This represents an increase of about 40% compared with the 2006-2024 average. Just 18 fires accounted for 87% of the total burned area.<\/p>\n
Ill-equipped<\/h3>\n
Concerns about preparedness extend beyond Greece. A recent report commissioned by Portugal-based Avincis, which leases firefighting planes and helicopters, warned that Europe is ill-equipped to tackle a growing wildfire crisis and must upgrade its firefighting aircraft fleets and increase investment.<\/p>\n
The report attributed rising risks across southern Europe to climate change, declining rural populations and the accumulation of flammable vegetation, noting that wildfire seasons are expanding beyond their traditional early June to mid-September window.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n