Forests in need of smarter management

Clearing the accumulated biomass on the forest floor is a first step toward making the country's woodlands safer and not so fire-prone. But it is not enough, experts claim.

"In 2022, the AntiNero forest-clearing program started. The budget allocated for 2022 was €22 million for 7,700 hectares. That's 0.3% of the country's total forest coverage. So, to cover the whole country, we would need €24 billion," says Ioannis Papadopoulos, head of the Department of Forestry, Wood Sciences and Design at the University of Thessaly. "These works are fine, but it's obvious this method cannot last."

The philosophy behind forest ecosystem management in Greece has been unchanged since standards were introduced in 1965 and focuses on timber production. There is a need for a modern approach, focusing on the forests' special needs as ecosystems and on other products they can offer. This...