What can we do??

Question

I'm watching the news the last days and I feel really sad.All those fires all over Greece,all those animals killed,all those forests destroyed.Can we do something?Shouldn't we the citizens demand from the goverment to have the forests reforestated?Can't we all work together and try and do something?How can anybody organise this?Via email?Via press?Any ideas?

Well,I don't mean go over there and random planting trees myself of course.I just know,because of the revision,that the goverment won't do anything about it,unless we,the citizens make them do something about it!Protest on the streets or something like that.Try and raise money.And of course I can't organize something like that by myself.That's why I asked here,if there are other people who care,who are concerned and will go to protest with me.And we are not talking wildfires here,but the work of arsonists...that's what's most disturbing.And of course I know that a fire is a natural thing,something that is needed from time to time.But 197 new fires in 36 hours isn't that normal,at least not to me.It's a human who caused these fire,this damage and unfortunately the death of a man in Aigio...

Dellarovere,
that's exactly what I'm talking about.We the citizens must do something,put some pressure on our goverment.We need to finally let them know that we are their bosses,and they can't do whatever they want.
As a vet student who wants to work with wildlife and exotic animals in the future I'm deeply concerned about the environmental damage,not only in our country,but all over the world.I think I might be forced to work at a zoo in the future because there will be no natural environments for the animals to live in...that make me deeply sad :(

Answer 1

In 1998 the former government dissolved the Forest Firemen corps, and didn't even think of taking into consideration the opposite opinions of experienced scientists and enviromental organisations. In addition, every goverment, for political reasons, permits unlimited hunting of what has been left of mamals and birds in the destroyed habitats.
In a few days a new Ministerial Decision will be issued, permitting hunting all over the country, while there are no state hunting guards to control essentially the massacre which takes places everywhere. The former government dissolved this coprs too.
My organisation will file a petition for annulment of the Decision to be issued, as it will be tottaly illegal, like all the former ones.
Citizens also must call the police, the forest departments of the prefectures, and all competent authorities, insisting that they get mobilezed in cases of illegal activities in the forests, burnt or not, of their territories.
And not just hide and be irresponsible, as they usually are. We have the most indefferent and reluctant citizens in whole Europe as far as environment is concerned...

Answer 2

My dear, have you heard of the anatheorisi of arthro 24 of the Constitution? The one about protecting nature that they want to change? Have you heard of the de-characterisation of any area that has no big trees from being forest (dasiki?). All these are the reasons why the fires happen, because the road will be open to make those areas buildings. What we can do is 2 things: 1. actively participate in the forest watch volunteer groups. 2. show them that we won't vote for them again. Frankly, I was among those who were undecied as to the vote. But ever since i hear all of them talk about the fires and no one but alavanos mention the issue of article 24, I will vote for Synaspismos next elections.

Answer 3

I'm not as well-versed on the forest ecology of Greece as I am of my own corner of the U.S.; but surely Greece has some kind of equivalent of a Forest Service in its government, somewhere, or some government entity that manages natural resources. If so, and especially after a devastating spate of wildfires, I'm sure there's already a program in place or there's one in the works to manage some amount of clean up and reforestation. There isn't a whole lot the general public can do, except perhaps get involved with the cleanup of certain areas of public land, which I'm sure the government might appreciate; but unless you have some kind of forestry background, planting random trees everywhere isn't going to help, even if you mean well. In any case--and most people who don't have a forestry background don't usually know this--fire is, in many cases, actually beneficial to a forest. It greatly depends on the ecology of that forest, of course; but if nothing else, fire clears areas and allows for pioneering, shade-intolerant trees to move in, which wouldn't otherwise be able to grow in an established forest, particularly if they are shade-intolerant. Edges of forest, burnt areas, and recovering areas all provide vital habitat for certain animals and especially the other animals that hunt them; it's hard to think of a damaged or disturbed area as being vital to an ecosystem, but trust me, it is. The dead debris also is also vital, since it will provide nutrients to new trees that grow in the area as well as habitat for animals that live, hunt, and procreate in disturbed areas. The best way to prevent raging wildfires in the future is threefold; prevent arson, prevent careless campers or nearby residents from burning fires improperly that can get out of control... and most importantly, let future natural fires (and controlled, "cool fires" maintained by government foresters) burn parts of the forest, albeit under supervision. In the U.S., we have a serious problem with wildfires now because of overpopulation and 100 years of a policy of putting out any and all fires immediately... that resulted in so much undergrowth and brush in some forests that as soon as a fire DID start it would have so much fuel that it would burn uncontrollably and destroy far more than if fires had been allowed to burn in the past. It seems strange, or self-defeating; but fire is an absolutely vital part of almost every forest ecosystem, and any forester will tell you that.

In the meantime, however, if the government has plans to employ silvicultural plantings of key species in certain areas, particularly damaged riparian zones, that will help the forest recover. You just have to remember that although forests do take a long time to change or grow or recover, they always do; and generally they're best left to do so with minimal human interference.

Answer 4

ya, unfortunately over the course of histroy greece has had its many forests depleted over history.

Really i dont think doing this over the internet is such a good idea unless you are making a petition.

try organizing with people in the communities affected or your own town. that will be more effective and contact your member of parlament or other representative to bring the topic up!!

Answer 5

What is lacking from our country is partecipation to groups, societies and their activities. People first cry or complain and then they forget everything and turn the TV on. And they expect supernatural powers to solve the problems. Why governments are negligent? Because they find no real mass reaction by their voters.

Answer 6

Hard to say. We had some crazy wild fires here in the states this past year from the east coast to the west and north to south the weather has been wackie lately.

Answer 7

Stop voting for those dumazzez, geeez. We all complain bla bla bla, but when it comes to elections we run to vote those azzh@les. We are held responsible for this situation too.