The account of the destruction in the Dadia National Park after the fire and the next day

H fire which occurred on July 21 at Dadia National Park left its mark on the globally unique ecosystem. The forest once again in its long history, shown to resist black that the fire left behind, not intact, damaged and with the first scientific data recording the environmental damage leaving, according to the relevant announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “a message of optimism for the conservation of biodiversity and rare predator and scavenger species in the region». An assessment that converges to a significant extent with that of those who have a role in the management of the ecosystem, those who rushed to extinguish the fire and who will take care and work for its restoration.

It is customary for the occurrence of any natural disaster to demonstrate and highlight any vulnerability as well as the effectiveness of planning for prevention and protection of those affected by it. In the Dadia fire, the thick smoke covered everything for days, revealing at the same time the anxiety over the magnitude of the destruction of the precious ecosystem. Today, almost a week after the last fire was extinguished, with visibility fully restored, the acting head of the Evros Forestry Directorate, Petros Anthopoulos and the manager of the local office of Thrace of WWF Greece (Dadia Evros) Scartsis gifts, talk to APE-MPE about the next day of the forest of Dadia. They cite, among other things, data on the management of the National Park to date, attempting a first approximation of the consequences of the fire, explaining what follows in the context of the restoration as well as the reasons why an accurate assessment of the damage is possible at least one year later, they outline a National Park which is not ostensibly a protected area.

Possibilities of intervention in the National Park

“The drafting of the Special Management Plan (SMP) for the forest of Dadia began in 2013 and was completed by the Directorate of Forests of the Province of Evros in 2016. The Forestry Services implement on an annual basis the provisions of it, in the context of prevention and protection, such as cleaning of the forest, logging, maintenance of fire zones, roads and water tanks”, Mr. Anthopoulos declares to APE-MPE. He clarifies that as far as the forest of Dadia is concerned, legislative restrictions are placed on the actions that can be implemented in it compared to other forests. This, he estimates, is one of the possible reasons that, in combination with the occasionally expressed concern for possible disruption of the ecosystem, contributed to the non-implementation of the appropriate actions for the proper management of the forest (logging, new openings of firebreaks, etc.) in the years before the preparation of the EDS. “The forest of Dadia has special environmental restrictions regarding the removal of burnt wood. Logging is done at a specific time, as in general the work is prohibited during the breeding season of predators, therefore the restoration work after the fire will be done in relation to the bird fauna of the area” he explains, adding that over the years it has become a significant degree of reticence as to the necessity of specific protection projects. “It took us all years to understand that conservation is directly linked to the management and survival of predators. The gradual closing of gaps (i.e. areas of low vegetation, important for predator foraging) and the reduction of livestock farming have contributed to the realization that interventions need to be made and to strengthen livestock farming, the weakening of which has recently led to thought to bring deer from Bulgaria in an attempt to thin the forest again».

Mr. Anthopoulos underlines that “in previous years, the Soufli Forestry Department received 20,000-30,000 euros annually for fire protection projects. This year, 300,000-400,000 euros were given with the Antinero preventive cleaning program, so in the area where the fire occurred, the maintenance of roads and fire extinguishers had been carried out, which proved to be useful in extinguishing the recent fire.”

The restoration

As far as the restoration project is concerned, he explains to APE-MPE how begins with the declaration of reforestation of the affected area within one month of the official extinguishing of the fire. “We are already moving forward with the satellite data from the Copernicus system. Next is the control of the necessity of technical works. The Forest Service will make anti-corrosion works, logs and log barriers from the burnt wood, which will hold the soil preventing the washing away of the cones and seeds which will open in two-three months giving new trees which are not the choice of the predators for nesting, as they select the super-mature. This fact (nests in mature trees) also differentiates the management of this particular forest from others where the older trees are the ones that are felled».

Valuation is not done with the naked eye

He states that “the assessment of the magnitude of environmental damage is not done with the naked eye and cannot be immediately accurate. The classification of trees as dead and for felling is safe after a period of months has passed, while in terms of the consequences for predators, safe evidence will only be obtained through the monitoring of the range index by the National Park Management Unit.

“We expect to see strong regeneration in the forest in a short period of time. This is the natural progression after a fire and within a year there will be lush vegetation. It is important that the nests of the Black Vulture were saved, also there are large unburnt areas left in which they can nest, while in the gaps created by the fire they will find food. The presence of Black Pine is a phytogeographical paradox as it is found at higher altitudes. The particular conditions of the area favoring its growth here, which have not changed, allow us to be optimistic that it will remain as part of the forest’s biodiversity” notes Mr. Anthopoulos to APE-MBE and points out:

“Those of us who assess the consequences of a catastrophic phenomenon based on scientific knowledge and methodology do not lack environmental sensitivity. In the Mediterranean Ecosystem, like Dadia, every 50-60 years there is a threat of fire, so it regenerates. The question is what measures can we take to reduce the consequences of an impending fire. A fire protection plan must be made because this phenomenon in other forests repeats every ten years and if the fire passes through a previously burned area the situation becomes much more difficult. Also, the Forestry Service needs further reinforcement, primarily in terms of human resources but also in general, and perhaps its role and responsibilities need to be re-clarified. In particular, in forestry offices such as those of Evros, the possibility of operating a staffed protected area office should be considered».

D. Skartsi: With sampling in the field and over time the evaluation

The assessment of the environmental damage can be achieved over time and not exclusively through satellite images, in order for the restoration projects to be effective, the manager of the local office of WWF Greece (Dadia Evrou) Dora Skartsis emphasizes to APE-MPE.

“It will be necessary to sample in the field, to see if in an area that the satellite shows as burned, it is worth preserving many individuals of trees, mainly pines, trachea and black. This certainly cannot be captured now, sampling must be done. The goal that will be set in the rehabilitation is important. If this is to save as many trees as possible, which in a subsequent vegetative period can be evaluated whether they are finally alive or not and not judged from the first moment as dead, because these will be the reserve for hosting a fauna of small insects , micro-birds etc. in the following years until the regeneration of the rest of the forest. Zone A deserves more time, not to deal with it horizontally in terms of management of burnt areas».

Regarding the recording of the population of predators, he states that the last one through the interpretation of the territories per species was done in 2020 by the National Park Management Unit (s.s. former Agency) and according to the Ministry of the Interior it will be repeated in the spring of 2023, when the new elements emerge. He notes that the main area with the Black Vulture’s nests was saved, not burned, nor the birds that were there, while it is obvious that a disaster has occurred for the other species, adding that the food was re-entered the feeder through which the fire passed and the vultures already went and ate normally.

The next day’s priority for Mrs. Skartsi is the evaluation with more detailed criteria of the new forest that has emerged after the fire “to save trees, primarily the oaks which are generally regrowing and then the pines. What can be retained in the forest giving them some time to show whether or not they are going to die out completely, to see what we can leave as a forested environment when the migratory, next year, birds return. At least where the Management Unit knows the nests, or we can walk with many volunteers and find new ones, it will be seen if the count has simply sneezed, the nest will be seen. Up there you do some sample areas and say here around this nest I don’t cut it so that next year when it comes we can observe if it will be able to use this wooded environment. Zone A gives us the right to carry out some investigations at the same time… To leave some trees that look burnt around a nest and keep them for two or three years to see what happens… We need to see it all together, maybe there are techniques after all after a catastrophic fire, things should not be so difficult to reverse.”

When asked if the absolute protection of a protected area is possible, she answers that “absolute protection is something very hard to come by. The point is, if you have living structures with people working, researching, protecting the forests well, I think you reduce a lot of chances of such disasters… When you have a close monitoring of all the parameters of a National Park, I think you reduce difficult situations as much as you can.” He estimates that reversibility is something difficult and to be discussed “requires dedication of time, dedication of a research protocol in collaboration with the people who do the applied management which is the Forest Service…».

Finally, Mrs. Skartsi emphasizes to APE-MPE that “we should not direct the attention of the services, which are understaffed, only to how the burnt area will be managed in the next two years – surely a year or more is not enough – and leave the management to the rest of the forest… Not to focus only there and we do not do what is necessary as provided in the approved Management Plans and in the rest of the areas. Much more should be done after so many years of effort. The forest is managed and protected with all the available forces. He deserved something more from this park and all the other National Parks after so many years of effort».

RES-EMP

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