Schinias park board quits over forest destruction
The Management Board of Schinias National Park has submitted its resignation over interventions at the behest of the Civil Protection Ministry that have resulted in the destruction of large areas of naturally regenerated forest.
The seven-member board said the interventions that started on June 23 in the protected area northeast of Athens by a private company hired by the ministry, are being conducted in a scientifically inadmissible way.
It claimed the contractor ignored its recommendations, as well as those of the forestry service, and carried out interventions in zones A1 and A3. The machines used led to deforestation, raising serious concern about the future vitality and growth of existing pine trees aged 45-55 years, it added.
The board also sent a letter to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment, requesting its intervention to stop the work by the contractor.
