Wildfire Peer Review Report for Greece

On June 20th, 2024, the Wildfire Peer Review Report for Greece was released. The report focuses on wildfire preparedness, response, and recovery and contains information applicable to countries across Europe working to identify resilient pathways to address fire risk. It represents the combined efforts of work from more than 40 different organizations including Greek authorities, peer experts, and the Commission. Key recommendations from the report include:

• Develop a national wildfire risk management strategy
• Update the wildfire risk and hazard maps, along with an updated wildfire risk assessment and identification of risks for the wildland-urban interface areas
• Streamline planning processes in relation to wildfires and include regular reviewing
• Reinforce the capacity of local authorities to develop and implement integrated wildfire measures
• Strengthen wildfire prevention through a review of legal framework, long-term budget allocation, reinforcement of the Forest Service, guidelines on fuel management at landscape level and raising awareness
• Further build synergies between the Forest Service and the Hellenic Fire Corps on prevention and preparedness
• Explore the use of fire behavior analysis to support response coordination
• Increase the number of multi-disciplinary teams conducting investigations of fire ignition causes