Resources of 30 million euros, for the creation of fire protection zones, 10 meters wide, around settlements located in or near forests and forest areas of high risk for the occurrence of fires are available at the initiative of the Minister of Environment and Energy, Thodoros Skylakakis and after a relevant decision of the Board of Directors of the Green Fund, Yannis Androulakis.

According to the relevant announcement, the resources come from the program: “Protection and Upgrade of Forests 2024” of the Green Fund implemented by the General Directorate of Forests and Forest Environment of the General Secretariat of Forests through the Regional Forestry Services.

Potential beneficiaries are first and foremost the municipalities, whose boundaries include or are adjacent to the dangerous areas of PD 575/1-7-1980 “On declaring particularly fire-sensitive areas of forests and forest lands as dangerous” (A΄ 157). These are areas of responsibility of the following Forestry Services: Kefallinia, Zakynthos, Corfu, Lesvos, Samos, Chania, Dodecanese and Chios Forest Directorates, and Forestry Departments of Alexandroupoli, Arnaia, Polygyros, Kassandra, Thassos, Thessaloniki, Skopelos, Volos, Atalanti, Istiaia, Limni , Chalkidos, Thebes, Parnithos, Penteli, Kapandriti, Lavrio, Aegaleo, Piraeus, Megaron, Poros, Corinth, Xylokastro, Aigi, Patras, Amaliados, Pyrgos, Olympia, Kalamata, Sparta and Kranidi, including the municipalities of the entire Peloponnese, Crete, Aegean islands and Evros. A detailed appendix is ​​attached, where the 196 municipalities – beneficiaries of the program are recorded.

The main objective of the project is to contribute to the two-way and effective fire protection of settlements and forest ecosystems. Given their proximity, through the creation of an average width of 10 meters firebreak (consisting accordingly of a bare or covered firebreak) the continuity of the forest vegetation is broken. In this way, the fire is slowed down and prevented from spreading. Something that contributes, effectively, to extinguishing it.

It is noted that the financial contribution of the Green Fund aspires to cover more than 80% of the total expenditure of the OTA beneficiaries, which depending on the particular conditions of each region can reach 100% of this.

Both the invitation to participate and the management guide will be posted on the Green Fund website (https://prasinotameio.gr/) by the end of the day.