The early battles for the environment

I know I’m going to anger a lot of people with the next sentence but some things need to be said. We owe a thank you to our insufferable, difficult, grumpy fellow citizens who fought battles many years ago to protect the environment in our country. If it weren’t for some archaeologists, architects and other concerned Greeks, nothing would have been left standing.

The island of Hydra, the villages of Zagoria, Mount Pilio, Mani, the Cyclades and many more places which largely define what we call “Greek beauty” would not look like they do today. If it weren’t for the people of the Hellenic Society and Eleni Vlachou, today there would have been a shipbreaking yard in Pylos.

The paradox, and great thing about this, is that they were fighting 50 years ago, when the preservation of natural landscapes and traditional settlements was not yet part of a global culture, when Greek society had not understood how important this part of its heritage was and was ready to sacrifice everything on the altar of quick and easy development. Asbestos cement sheets or aluminium was the obvious solution in building materials and no one even understood why it was a problem.

Along the way, we obviously reached unimaginable excesses toward the other extreme, that caused many reactions. We often heard stories of investments which were blocked because of some ancient cistern that no one could locate, or the obsessions of archaeologists or others that pushed entrepreneurs or others that wanted to invest to the brink of a nervous breakdown. These examples perhaps swung the pendulum to the other extreme.

We are now at a critical crossroads. We must find a balance between the need for development but also the protection of our heritage and the environment. The rest of the planet discovered and loved Greece during the pandemic and after it because it discovered many corners of the country that have not been overdeveloped and can project something special and unique.

We went through the whirlwind of the 70s, with the infamous buildings created during the military dictatorship that are true eyesores. We have “sacrificed” some regions in the name of convenience and survival. But it is impressive how many parts of our country were saved and today they give it such an additional value. And, I repeat, we owe this to those who whined, shouted, fought when it was not fashionable.