Fires burned 170,000 hectares in Greece during 2023; 70.8% destroyed in August fires alone

The fires that broke out in Greece since the start of 2023 burned a total of 170,000 hectares (1.7 million stremmas), with 120,000 of these (1.2 mln stremmas) destroyed in the August fires alone, the National Observatory for Forest Fires (NOFF) said on Wednesday.

According to the Observatory, a total of 67 forest fires have been recorded. Up to September 6, the burned area covers 169,685.84 hectares (1,696,858.4 stremmas). In addition, 70.8% of the burned area was destroyed in the August fires alone.

In the attached map by the University of Athens' Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, one can see the extent of destroyed forestland. In terms of regions, the extent of fires from greatest area damaged to least is Evros (NE Greece), Parnitha (Attica), Rodopi (NE Greece), Boeotia (Tarsos, Prodromos, Yliki/Central Greece), and Kavala (Nestos/NE Greece). According to the Forestry Department, the region of Evros is largely covered by clouds and this may have given wrong assessments. Future satellite imaging without cloud coverage will adjust the results.

The team of professor Ioannis Gitas includes researchers Constantinos Antoniadis, Nikos Georgopoulos, Michalis Sismanis, Dimitris Stavrakoudis, Argyris Lefakis, Elena Goudi, and Alexandra Stefanidou. The Department implements the purposes of the Observatory, which falls under the Ministry of Environment and Energy's General Directorate of Forests and Forest Environment.