Agroforestry and wildfires in Greece

Agroforestry and wildfires
in Greece
Dr. Gavriil Xanthopoulos
National Agricultural Research Foundation
Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems
and Forest Products Technology
Hymettus Av. & N. Chlorou 1, 11528, Athens, Greece
E-mail: gxnrtc@fria.gr

Agroforestry: A traditional land use
• Agroforestry systems is a traditional type of land
use in Greece especially in semi-mountainous
and mountainous areas.

Changes after World War II
• In the post World War II era this land use model,
that had persisted for many centuries, was
abandoned to a large extent in an effort to
maximise agricultural production and produce at
competitive prices.
• Mixed systems were transformed to
monocultures.
• Trees that prevented the use of heavy mechanical
equipment were removed.

Vegetation map of Greece

Abandonment of villages
• Especially in mountainous areas, where
competitive agriculture was not feasible, villages
were gradually abandoned as people, mainly in
the 1950s and 1960s, migrated to the large cities
or immigrated abroad.
• Forest vegetation gradually occupied most open
spaces:
– Tall forest cover in the country was estimated at 17%
in the early 1970s.
– Current estimates bring this value to 23-25%.

Fuel build-up
• The balance that existed was soon upset:
– The mosaic of forest and agricultural fuels was
replaced by a continuum of forests.
– Reduced population in combination with changes in
fuel type preferences (gas, electricity…) resulted in
reduced utilization of forest biomass around villages.
– Reduced forest management by the Forest Service
further contributed to fuel build-up.
• As a result the forest fire potential gradually
increased.
• Fire statistics reflect these changes quite well.

Forest fire history in Greece
Evolution of the total yearly burned area in
Greece in the 1955-2010 period.

Fires reaching villages
• A significant change has to do with steep
reduction of cultivations around villages.
• In the past, fires approaching villages would
slow down or even stop due to lack of fuels.
• Forest vegetation nowadays reaches the homes
at the perimeter of villages allowing fires to
reach there as well. Reasons:
– Complete abandonment of cultivation
– Reduced effort on managing the land

A prepared and an unprepared
(for a fire event) vineyard

Fire reaching a village in Ilia in 2000

Milesi, N. Attica, after June 4, 2001 fire

Fire of Cassandra, Chalkidiki, August 2006

Fire of Cassandra, Chalkidiki, August 2006

Fire of Cassandra, Chalkidiki, August 2006

Passive behavior of people
• Lack of interest on production (agricultural,
forest, animal products) by the ageing
population resulted in a passive response to the
arrival of fires and to increased damages:
– Lack of “invested interest” to protect the land
– Lack of able hands due to old age
– A laid-back mentality
– Loss of experience in dealing with fires
• There are many examples of this type of
behavior

An old person watching the fire at the Acrocorinthos
archaeological site (July 17, 2007) (from NET TV)

The village Sarakini on August 30, 2008
The people felt they were safe, and ignored suggestions to
clear vegetation around their village on August 27, 28, and 29
- (information and photos M. Athanasiou, environmental engineer).

The village Sarakini on August 30 th , 2008
after the passage of the fire…

Desperation and indifference in one of the
villages in Peloponnese (from Newspaper “Proto Thema)

Evolution of the number of forest fire caused
fatalities in Greece

Agroforestry systems in Greece
in relation to fire hazard
• Fire hazard: A measure of the part of fire
danger contributed by the fuels available for
burning.

Silvoarable systems
• In these agroforestry systems agricultural or
horticultural crops are grown simultaneously
with timber or fuelwood trees, or a fruit or nut
crop.
Photos: www.agroforestry.gr

Agricultural activities as a fire cause

Fuels
• Mainly fine dead fuels.
• Annual crop residues usually constitute dead
fine fuels available for burning in the summer.
• Wheat stubble is a common example.
• Tree pruning/pollarding produces thicker
woody fuels (e.g. in olive groves).
• Farmers often burn them. Done carelessly this
burning often becomes the cause of wildfires.

Expected fire behavior
• When available and continuous, fine fuels may
carry fire at high spread rates under strong
wind conditions.
• Flame length can vary but is generally less that
4 m long.
• An example, in which wheat stubble has been
modeled as follows:
– Dead fine biomass: 4.2 t/ha
– Fuel bed depth: 15 cm
– S/V ratio: 50 cm 2 /cm 3
– Dead fuel moisture of extinction: 15%

Stubble burning in the plain of Larissa

Fire behavior and trees
• As a rule, trees do not suffer in case of fire
• Tree torching is possible if :
– The lower branches reach down near the ground
– Trees are flammable (conifers, olive trees….)
– They have rotten cavities
– Have “ladder” fuels allowing fire to reach the
crown (e.g. eucalypts with loose bark on their
trunk)
• In general trees are sparse enough so that fire
spread from crown to crown is not possible.

Fire behavior under extreme conditions
• Under extreme weather conditions (very high
temperature, relative humidity

The fire that killed 23 people at
Artemida, Ilia (August 24, 2007)
• The worst fatality site during the fire disaster
of 2007 was near the village of Artemida, in
Ilia.
• There, 20 people evacuating in panic the
villages of Makistos and Artemida, including
many children, were trapped and killed
together with three seasonal Fire Service
firefighters.
• They died in an olive grove when they were
surrounded by fire.

Satellite view of the area
(from Google Earth)

Satellite view of the area (detail)
(from Google Earth)

The area before the fire
Source: Dionysios at Google Panoramio

The fire of Paleohori - Artemida

The fatality site immediately after the accident
(from newspaper “To Proto Thema”)

The fatality site immediately after the accident
(from a blog on the internet)

Post-fire aerial photo of the accident site
Source: N. Despiniadis, www.Greekscapes.com

The fatality site in January 2008

The fatality site in January 2008

The place where one of the victims died a
few hundred meters from the village

Burned areas vs land uses (2007)
(Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and WWF)
(Yellow=Agricultural areas, Green=Forest and natural areas

N. East Attica fire of August 22, 2009
A fire on August 22, 2009 burned about 20,000 ha in
NE Attica, threatening 13 towns and settlements, in spite
of the efforts of all the available resources of the Fire
Service, the local authorities and volunteer firefighters.
Photo: M. Athanasiou

Photo: M. Athanasiou

22-08-2009

The north part of the burned area
before the fire (July 25, 2009)

Detail showing vegetation mosaic

The north part of the burned area after
the fire (July 28, 2010)

Silvopasture systems
• These agroforestry systems combine presence
of trees and pasture plants
• Forage system: usually permanent pasture,
grazed rotationally
• Tree component: usually, timber or fuelwood
trees, sometimes a fruit or nut crop
Photos: www.agroforestry.gr

Sougia area,
in the prefecture,
of Chania, Crete

Olive grove in Achaia, Peloponnese

Expected fire behavior
• Fire usually spreads in the pasture vegetation.
As there are many types of such vegetation
(grasses, forbs, phrygana, shrubs) fire behavior
may vary tremendously.
• The fuel in which the fire spreads is the one that
mainly dictates the rate of spread (e.g. grasses in
a mix of grasses, shrubs and trees).
• Trees may or may not burn depending on the
conditions (surface fire behavior, tree species,
lower branches height, presence of ladder fuels,
etc.).

Example of low fuel load and benign
fire behavior (23/7/2008, N.Attica)

Example of fire stopped in agroforestry
area (Cassandra, August 2006)

Example of fire stopped in agroforestry
area (Cassandra, August 2006)

Grazing and fires
• Grazing of sheep and goats, traditional in the
country, in recent times has become one of the main
causes of fires.
• Grazing management is poor. Most areas are
overgrazed.
• Shepherds react to the resulting reduction of feed for
the animals by burning to stimulate new growth.
• As desirable plants gradually disappear due to
overgrazing, the fire frequency increases.
• The soil is unprotected by vegetation when it is
burned every few years and is soon eroded, resulting
in site productivity loss and finally desertification.

Shepherd fires in the prefecture of
Chania in Crete

Overgrazing in the plateau
of Anopolis, Sfakia, Crete

Υπερβόσκηση στην Ανώπολη (Σφακιά)

Conclusions
• Agroforestry systems have been an agent of
stability in regard to fires
• This has to do not only with vegetation but also
with people (population composition and age,
motivation)
• Policies, especially in today’s dire
environmental and economic times should
promote population decongestion from the
cities and return, as much as possible, to
agroforestry practices in rural areas.

Conclusions (2)
• Knowledgeable and effective management in
agroforestry systems should include provisions
for the case of fire.
• Opportunities that agroforestry practices may
provide for reducing fire potential should be
taken advantage of, especially in the context of
presuppression planning.

Agroforestry fields as fuel breaks

Fuelbreak maintenance in S. France

Conclusions (2)
• Knowledgeable and effective management in
agroforestry systems should include provisions
for the case of fire.
• As shown, areas where agroforestry is
practiced, are not totally immune in case of
fire.
• People should know and prepare accordingly,
both in regard to their land and to the
characteristics and condition of their
settlements.