The actions of the competent ministries and their cooperation with the local government for the forest protection, were mentioned, among others, the government officials who attended the forum organized by the president of SPAY (Association for the Protection and Development of Hymettus) and mayor of Elliniko-Argyroupolis, John Constantatos, on «The Decalogue to save our forests - Local Government at the heart of Civil Protection».
The value of inter-municipal cooperation and the legacy left by the forest fires of the summer, were among other things at the centre of the speech of the Minister of Interior, Makis Voridis. Mr.Voridis referred to the draft law on volunteering currently under consultation to strengthen civil society organisations. «On volunteering, a framework is needed where volunteers know their rights, to regulate a number of issues concerning its insurance, its registration», Mr. Voridis stressed. Mr. Voridis listed three issues left as a legacy of this «difficult summer» and said:
1) A ministry (Climate Crisis and Civil Protection) has been established that can be a central, coordinating, executive core for the response to the climate crisis and the effective operation of civil protection. «A political structure emerges that gives the political priority, the political focus of the government,» Voridis pointed out.
2) A strong mechanism of support for society was built, a very strong mechanism for paying compensation and reparations for damages.
3) A very close relationship between the state and local government has emerged.
«From this whole ordeal, the following conclusions are drawn: Greater vigilance, better organizational structure. We believe a lot and expect a lot from the new ministry, from more effective coordination between the agencies. The legacy is a very strong, unique and unprecedented in Greece. a compensation mechanism that is close to the citizen and helps affected citizens to heal their wounds. We need to strengthen the mechanism by which we protect our forests, our environment, our property and human lives,» he said.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Interior, Stelios Petsas in his speech, he referred, among other things, to the institutional and financial tools that the Ministry of Interior is developing in order to assist local government in its crucial role for the strengthening the modern framework of Civil Protection and outlined the range of initiatives that the Ministry of Interior has taken in this direction. He made particular reference to the the role of volunteers is strengthened through the new draft law of the Ministry of Interior - which is currently undergoing public consultation - on civil society organisations and voluntary work. «We are putting in place a new framework, more transparent, more functional and I am sure that everyone will embrace it,» Petsas said.
«Volunteerism and support, so that we can enhance the culture change we want, funding to bring money to the table and above all a political will that says that the forest is something we have in our hearts,’ Petsas said.
The Minister for Climate Change and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianides, spoke about the establishment of a Civil Protection Volunteer School where volunteers will acquire specialization, and stressed that there is a need for a systematic organisation of volunteering. «We will become more practical and more efficient, that's what we will do through this school, even giving certificates and everything you have discussed. It has to be done, we need to find the funds, either national or European, to give volunteers what they need. It is not only a complement to the security forces and the fire brigade, it is the very soul of society that manifests itself in the hour of crisis», Stylianides said.
«A case of unity», the Minister of Citizen Protection described the case of Ymittos, Takis Theodorikakos. For his part, he said that the Ymittos must be part of a plan and a vision that will concern the whole of Attica and why not the whole of Greece. «Our bet and our vision is to make this natural, environmental, historical, religious and historical reserve a daily life for hundreds of thousands of people. It is a living mountain, the thread that connects antiquity with Byzantium, the Revolution with the 20th century, the occupation, a thousand and two situations that are part of our history.. We have a huge obligation to protect this mountain by keeping it alive», Mr Theodorikakos noted.
Furthermore, referring to the volunteers, he said: «1,500 fighting and fighting people have saved this mountain and we owe it to them to support this effort to give them the best so that they can do this work in the best conditions. The state, volunteerism, the volunteer movement and local government, we are on the same side of the hill, we are united, we have solidarity relations and we are connected by a common vision and a common plan for our life in Attica, for our life in Ymittos and in the cities around Ymittos», he said. 150 police officers have been assigned to all the municipalities linked and united in the SPAY. Finally, he called for the creation of a joint working group from the Ministries of Civil Protection, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and Interior in cooperation with the Spai, which will monitor and check one by one the projects and issues to be carried out and prepare for the next season.
The Deputy Minister of State for Rural Development and Food described the role of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food as important and essential, George Stylios. For his part, he pointed out that they are already discussing and negotiating the next CAP, where they have made sure to include corresponding programs that will support the prevention and rehabilitation. «We want the focus to turn to prevention. The philosophy in the next CAP has changed, we have shifted to environmental actions, with less environmental footprint, less carbon footprint on the environment but also with uses that are beneficial to the environment. We come to meet and connect with the so-called Green Deal 2020-2030 and to identify, coordinate with the Green Deal so that all our actions are coordinated with it.», he noted, among other things.
The Deputy Minister of Environment referred to the management studies for the care of forests that the Ministry of Environment is starting in 38 forest ecosystems, George Amiras, stressing that they want a forest clean of fuel and accumulated biomass, clean in its carpet, but also a forest that is protected from anthropogenic encroachment, as well as «profitable» for itself, based on a sustainable process that will nourish and provide income to the locals who care for it, clean it, and log it.
«Together with the Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection, we have made it part of our spring schedule to go in and clean up to protect critical critical forests. And over the next few months, we are entering the remaining 38,» Amyras noted.
He also pointed out that under the National Reforestation Plan, have received 200 million euros from the Recovery Fund to plant trees. «The August fires forced us to modify this National Reforestation Plan and to orient a percentage of it to the areas that burned. Through this, we will green these areas where nature cannot and where the forest meets the settlement or the settlement meets the forest, there we will build the mixed zones, the green zones with trees that can withstand the fire or slow it down so that we can protect the settlements. This will also happen in Ymittos. It is included in the National Plan of Reforestation», he noted, adding that the study for a reforestation in Ymittos was approved and for a pilot reforestation in other areas. The reforestation in Ymittos concerns areas that were burnt in 2015, in Vari, Ilioupoli and Argyroupoli. In addition, he said that pilot reforestation projects start in Parnitha, Rodopi, Western Macedonia and some other areas, where around 100,000 trees will be planted and will monitor the evolution of each nursery with satellite and state-of-the-art technology.
Furthermore, Amyras said that they are reorganizing the forestry services and attracting them to the digital era, as they organize and prepare the so-called e-dasos, «a platform for forestry services only so that they all speak the same language and have the same rules».
At the same time, Mr. Amyras announced that have requested the recruitment of 300 permanent forestry officials, and announced that an environmental awakening centre is to be inaugurated in the municipality of Kaisariani.
For his part, the Minister of Interior of the SYRIZA Progressive Alliance, Costas Zacharias, referred to the delaying the draft bill on multilevel governance that will define who does what and why, while stressing that in order to have an effective prevention, protection and long-term strategy, resources are needed. «The government should listen to the voice of the KEDE and redesign the Recovery Fund especially in the green recovery part, so as to involve green elements in the policy of the first and second level of local government.. Otherwise, it will mean that we will have understood nothing as a country from the European practice of self-government. It will mean that we have not understood anything as a country from what was discussed at COP26 in Glasgow on forest protection,’ he said, noting that private initiative should be «out» of forest protection.
«Outside, private initiative from forest protection, inside the local government, in the first degree, in the second degree, inside the state, inside the active citizens. There are only a few tufts of greenery left in Attica, let's not jeopardize them too», he concluded.
Finally, the secretary of Kinal, Manolis Christodoulakis, mentioned four key features that the Political Protection: 1) Knowledge and experience from previous disaster experiences in each region that should be stored and used in policy planning. 2) Best possible use of resources 3) Participatory character with a regulatory framework with procedures and providing incentives for both citizens and voluntary groups to join the Civil Protection system. 4) The way the Civil Protection mechanism is perceived. It must be an integrated public policy system and not a set and sum of fragmented actions.
«The government chose a much more centralized decision-making and focused mainly on the way of extinguishing the fires and this resulted in the state mechanism not being able to meet the demands of the summer,» Christodoulakis said.
