Manos Konsolas Initiative to Strengthen Forest Services in the Aegean Islands
Through a parliamentary intervention addressed to the Minister of Environment, Manos Konsolas, MP for the Dodecanese and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Regions, highlighted the urgent need to reinforce Forest Services across the Aegean islands.
He stressed that forest authorities in the region suffer from severe understaffing, despite being responsible for enforcing forestry legislation and overseeing fire prevention and forest protection across a geographically extensive and demanding island territory.
Key data presented include:
- Only 21 out of 48 inhabited Aegean islands operate organized Forest Service administrative units.
- A total of 158 employees currently serve across the entire Aegean, compared to 229 officially designated positions. Upcoming retirements are expected to further reduce staffing levels.
- Paros lacks an administrative Forest Service unit.
- In Rhodes, the largest island in the South Aegean and one severely affected by destructive wildfires, only three forest guards are serving, one of whom is close to retirement.
- In Karpathos, there are no Forest Service employees at all.
Mr. Konsolas calls for immediate staffing reinforcement and the establishment of new administrative units to ensure full territorial coverage and effective forest protection throughout the Aegean region.
