THE WWF Greece announced that it is implementing the ambitious program “Collecting seeds for a living forest” in order to contribute to the production of as much planting material as possible, especially for areas that have burned more than once and need reforestation, such as Attica, Corinthia, Achaia and Ilia.

The program, which has started since the fall of 2023, is implemented in collaboration with the Directorate of Forestry Projects and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (ΠΙΕΝ) and with the support of Procter & Gamble and its products.

After the devastating fires of 2021 and 2023, the needs for planting material of forest species (seeds and seedlings) in our country are huge. Every year, in Greece, an average of more than 450,000 hectares of forest lands are burned, while in 2023 alone, forest fires affected more than 1.7 million hectares, further exacerbating the gap that exists in suitable planting material.

In particular, within the framework of the program, the following actions are implemented:

Support of the public forest nursery of the Forestry of Patras and its reinforcement with equipment and consumables in order to increase its production quantitatively and qualitatively.

Training and mobilization of active citizens, as well as voluntary organizations, in targeted areas of Southern Greece, so that citizens understand the problem and become part of the solution.

Collection of seeds from various species, such as cypress, carob, pine, pine, myrtle, various species of oak, juniper, etc., in areas of southern Greece, with the help of trained volunteers and the assistance of the local Forest Departments, for the needs of public forest nursery of the Forestry Department of Patras.

Voluntary works of fruit processing, but also care of the seedlings produced by the volunteers in the public forest nursery of the Forestry Department of Patras, under the guidance of the Forestry Department executives and the monitoring and supervision of the Directorate of Forestry Projects and Infrastructure.

Since the beginning of the program until today, approximately 200 volunteers have participated in seed collection actions throughout the country, while dozens of kilograms of seeds have been collected from 8 species (oak, cypress, juniper, boxwood, myrtle, aria, pine, pine). Each seed collected contributes to the increase in the production of planting material of the forest nursery of the Forestry Department of Patras that will be used in subsequent reforestations, thus strengthening the National Reforestation Plan, under the guidelines of the Directorate of Forestry Projects and Infrastructure.