Dadia Forest

The taste that always lingers after a disaster is bitter and sour. It's hard to admit that once again, something went wrong and that mistakes and omissions were made. This pattern has repeated itself time and again - in Ilia, Mount Parnitha, Mati, Evia and the Dadia Forest with the wildfires, and in Thessaly with the floods. 

Positive signs first emerged in April when experts found that the cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), also known as the Eurasian black vulture, a rare but emblematic species of the Dadia Forest in northeastern Greece, had not abandoned the area after what European Union officials described as the largest fire recorded in the EU up to 2023.

A team of Spanish experts who had visited the Evros region in northeastern Greece that was ravaged by devastating wildfires last summer have submitted an 80-page report to Greek authorities with recommendations to improve prevention capabilities.

The cinereous vulture is back at the Dadia forest in northeastern Greece. So are other big birds, such as the golden and white-tailed eagles.

The forest was devastated in August and September 2023 by a wildfire that burned about 73,000 hectares (730 square kilometers or 282 square miles). About half the forest area is estimated to have been burned.

The painful sight of Dadia forest in the Evros region in Greece has been destroyed by one of the largest wildfires in recent years in Europe. Experts worry over the ecosystem's survival.

The wildfire in Evros, in northeastern Greece, where firefighting efforts continue for the 17th consecutive day, is abating on Monday.

As reported by the public broadcaster ERT, there hasn't been an active front since late Sunday; nevertheless, over 93,000 hectares have been reduced to ashes.

The executive director of Greenpeace Greece, Nikos Charalambides, has commented on the ecological disaster caused by the massive fire in the Dadia forest in Evros, where crews were working for a 17th day to fully suppress the fire Monday, stating that it is premature to offer a "calm assessment" of the destruction.

On the 16th day of the wildfires in Evros, the primary wildfire front was located south of the village of Soufli, between Leukimis and Provatonas, according to Greek Fire Service spokesperson Ioannis Artopios. 

On Sunday morning he explained on the Greek state broadcaster ERT that the efforts are concentrated in the area south of Dadia forest. 

Authorities battling a major wildfire in northeastern Greece that has been described as the European Union's largest single recorded fire have recovered another body, the fire department said Friday, bringing the total death toll from wildfires in Greece this week to 21.

Three days following the discovery of 18 deceased individuals, presumed to be migrants or refugees, in the Dadia forest situated in the northeastern Evros region, firefighters discovered the charred remains of another man, also suspected to be an asylum seeker, on Thursday, it was announced Friday.