Forest fires are a constant threat to the ecosystems of the entire planet, a problem with international and chronic ramifications. The Mediterranean Sea is no exception. It is estimated that in Greece alone, one of the 23 countries in the Mediterranean, about 10,000 small or large outbreaks of rural fires occur every year.

Without the necessary preventive measures that reduce their intensity and dispersion, forest fires can become uncontrollable.

P&G has been supporting WWF Greece for two years to protect our country’s forests, which are home to rare endemic flora and many species of fauna, through a pilot application of prescribed burning.

It is a preventive method that leads to the reduction and efficient use of forest fuel. It has been widely used for decades in many countries around the world and is an environmentally and economically beneficial practice adopted by local communities.

In practice, through prescribed burning practices, accumulated forest fuels such as thick brush are reduced and the likelihood of less intense and more controlled fires is increased. In this way, our forests are becoming more resilient to fires and the effects of the climate crisis.

The prescribed burning program was piloted on the island of Chios in June 2021 in collaboration with national and local authorities such as the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems (IMDO), the Chios Forestry Authority and the Chios Voluntary Action Group “Omicron”. The Chios Fire Department and the Municipality of Chios are in practice supporting the project by providing fire engines and the necessary personnel.

The ultimate goal of the partnership between P&G and WWF Greece is to collect scientific data that will help scientific personnel and competent authorities to extend this practice to all forests of Chios through targeted burning in the forests of Chios. our country.

The choice of Chios was not accidental. Greece’s fifth largest island, with its extensive forests and significant ecosystem diversity, allows teams working in the field to gather enough data to apply the method to the rest of the country.

Ms. Despoina Passari, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for P&G in Central and Southeast Europe, characteristically notes that “WWF Greece’s pilot program represents valuable, well-designed and coordinated scientific work in protecting the environment from the threat of fire. We know that such efforts require extensive cooperation as well as significant resources to be effective. It gives us great pleasure to be a part of this initiative and to support the action with such an important perspective, as we believe that in addition to the obligation we as a company have to reduce our presence, we must not forget our common home, the planet.”

P&G recently accompanied WWF Greece in the field on a short field trip that tracked the implementation of a pilot application and explained the benefits of prescribed burning.

More information at www.epithimies.gr.