In the southern Peloponnese, the Greek fir is a towering presence. The deep green, slow-growing conifers have long defined the region\u2019s high-altitude forests, thriving in the mountains and rocky soils. For generations they have been one of the country\u2019s hardier species, unusually capable of withstanding drought, insects and the wildfires that periodically sweep through Mediterranean ecosystems. These Greek forests have lived with fire for as long as anyone can remember.<\/p>\n
So when Dimitrios Avtzis, a senior researcher at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) of Elgo-Dimitra, was dispatched to document the aftermath of a spring blaze in the region, nothing about the assignment seemed exceptional. He had walked into countless burnt landscapes, tracking the expected pockets of mortality, as well as the trees that survived their scorching.<\/p>\n
Hardy slow-growing conifers usually thrive in the Peloponnese mountains.<\/p>\n
This time, however, something felt wrong almost immediately. The scale was off. As Avtzis and his colleagues moved deeper into the trees, the familiar sights of a post-fire forest gave way to something far more unsettling.<\/p>\n
The scale of the damage was profoundDimitrios Avtzis<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were hundreds upon hundreds of hectares worth of lost trees,\u201d he says \u2013 not just those lost in the fire itself, but large patches dead and dying among the green, where the flames had not reached them.<\/p>\n
In the Peloponnese mountains, whole stretches of green forest are turning orange, as the long-lived fir trees dry up and die. The level of destruction was so far beyond what Avtzis had seen in previous years, it forced him to immediately contact the environment ministry and raise the alarm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scale of the damage was profound,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Researchers found \u2018hundreds upon hundreds of hectares worth of lost trees\u2019.<\/p>\n
Researchers across Greece and central Europe have warned for years that climate breakdown will push local ecosystems into unfamiliar territory. Wildfires are not new: according to data from the Global Forest Watch<\/a>, between 2001 and 2024, Greece lost 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of trees to fires.<\/p>\n But fires are not the only thing killing trees, and the forces shaping wildfire aftermath have shifted dramatically in the past five years. What Avtzis saw was the result of multiple pressures stacking on top of one another, each amplified by the climate crisis.<\/p>\n The first is severe, prolonged drought, now a defining feature of Greece\u2019s climate. The dryness is compounded by a steady decline in winter snow. A study by the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development and the National Observatory of Athens found that between 1991 and 2020, Greece lost an average of 1.5 days of snow cover a year<\/a>, eroding one of the country\u2019s most important sources of slow-release moisture.<\/p>\n Prolonged droughts and reduced snow fall are among the causes of the forest die-off. <\/p>\n Then comes the biological fallout. Drought-degraded soils and shrinking groundwater leave fir trees weakened, creating an opening for insects. \u201cWe know that severe drought weakens the trees,\u201d Avtzis says. \u201cBut when we looked more closely at what was happening, we found bark beetles had taken advantage. They were attacking the trees.\u201d<\/p>\n Bark beetles \u2013 particularly those in the Scolytinae subfamily \u2013 have emerged as a growing threat to Greece\u2019s already stressed forests over the past two years.<\/p>\n Their name is owed to the fact that the insects bore beneath the outer bark, cutting into the systems trees rely on to transport water and nutrients. Once they establish themselves inside drought-stressed firs, their numbers can rise rapidly. \u201cWhen a population reaches outbreak levels,\u201d Avtzis says, \u201cit becomes extremely difficult to bring it back under control.\u201d<\/p>\n The phenomenon is not confined to Greece. Bark beetle outbreaks have become a wider European concern, Avtzis says, mirroring patterns seen elsewhere on the continent. \u201cSouthern Europe<\/a> may be more vulnerable,\u201d he says, \u201cbut we\u2019re observing similar dynamics in countries like Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n The implication is concerning \u2013 indicating that the drivers behind the Peloponnese die-offs are not local anomalies, but symptoms of a broader ecological shift.<\/p>\n Yet amid the accelerating pressures of the climate crisis, there are cautious notes of optimism. Nikos Markos, a forest climatologist at FRI, points to the regenerative capacity of Mediterranean ecosystems. \u201cPost-fire regeneration can be quite satisfactory,\u201d he says, \u201ceven in some areas of the Peloponnese.\u201d<\/p>\n Forest recovery after fires is slow and uneven. <\/p>\n Recovery, however, is slow and uneven. \u201cIt is not something we can see in the first year,\u201d Markos adds. \u201cIt may take four or five years.\u201d<\/p>\n Avtzis is pragmatic when he speaks about what it will take to protect Greece\u2019s highland forests. \u201cI\u2019m going to be realistic,\u201d he says. \u201cThe government and the ministries have to take the initiative and mobilise the necessary funding to confront this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Some steps, he notes, were already beginning by the time he had submitted his report on the Peloponnese. \u201cThey contacted the major regional forest services and asked how much funding was needed,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat really matters now is whether those plans are actually put into action.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether Greece\u2019s shifting meteorological patterns are likely to keep accelerating, and whether that poses an existential risk for southern Europe\u2019s forests, Avtzis pauses. \u201cThere is no time to be pessimistic,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we have a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The tools, he says, already exist. \u201cWe have the knowledge. We have the scientists. Now, we need to start going out and talking about this,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause what we\u2019re seeing now is only going to become more frequent and more intense.\u201d<\/p>\n Find more age of extinction coverage here<\/a>, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston<\/a> and Patrick Greenfield<\/a> in the Guardian app for more nature coverage<\/p>\n The climate crisis will make extreme weather events more frequent for Europe\u2019s forests. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the southern Peloponnese, the Greek fir is a towering presence. 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