Fires in Greece

The wild forest fires that broke out in Greece two weekends ago are mostly under the control of fire-fighters and no longer spreading. Final damage? Human, economic, and ecological landscape... From neighboring Turkey I read the news, listened to conversations, and asked many questions. Primary among my concerns: how is our situation in this country similar to Greece, and how is it different?

The BBC reports that perhaps 65 people have died across the region in southeastern Greece. Greek newspapers have estimated €3 billion euro in financial costs---this is for immediate relief efforts, farmers' compensation, and local economies' recovery. And the land affected may be 270,000 hectares (more than a thousand square miles), including many olive-producing farms. The ecological perspective is confusing because many Mediterranean forests depend on frequent fires for their renewal and growth. In a typical cycle, strong roots systems will survive while fires remove dead matter and give young seeds the right conditions to sprout. Yet a fire can be devastating if the forest composition has changed. On Greece's mainland and islands, many forests have slowly lost diversity due to human influence in the form of tree plantations, animal grazing, agricultural needs, and demand for development. This means a forest may recover with painfully fewer species after a fire, now a likely possibility in Greece.
Truth is most of the damage will be unknown for a long time...

This article from the Economist magazine gives a valuable perspective on possible reasons for, and consequences of, the fires. It includes the legitimate theory that many of the fires were intentionally set by land-developers who may profit from an area cleared of trees. And here is the relevance for Turkey: if some of the fires were deliberate, what kind of economic environment is it that creates this incentive? And how can it be avoided?

The demand for more tourist destinations, real estate for the wealthy, and manufacturing industry leads to an intense business in land development. In Turkey and Greece it's a source of potentially huge profits.

(apologies for the abruptness, but this will continue shortly in another post)

~~~alice