| Abstract |
Forest fires are a major factor of forest degradation in Greece, causing a sequence of
serious and negative impacts at the economic, cultural, environmental and political
level, as well as on human life itself. This study, attempts to map and bring to surface
firstly, issues of criminal acts, or violation of laws hurting forests, such as, a) arson,
b) illegal activities in forest areas, and c) negligence acts. Secondly, it examines issues
of forest/forest fire legislation and forest/forest fire policies as they are expressed in
forest- related political claims by various actors of the public sphere. The analysis is
based on data produced under a European Commission research project which applies
a specialized content analysis method, political claims analysis (Koopmans, 2002).
More specifically, the analysis focuses on political claims that concern Greek forest
fires of June-July 2007, using press reports from 01.06.07 until 31.07.07 of the daily
newspaper “Eleftherotypia”. The main political claimants which make reference to
criminal acts, or violation of laws hurting forests are the mass media, police and fire
departments, local government and political parties (mainly the opposition) and civil
society groups. As far as forest/forest fire legislation and forest/forest fire policies are
concerned however, the main political claimants are political parties, the educational
community, the scientific community (specializing on forests), the mass media and
representatives of local government. In particular, political parties mainly refer to the
lack of, or inadequate forest legislation in Greece, and to the ineffective forest
policies. Political parties also refer more frequently than the other claimants to illegal
actions in forest areas, such as illegal buildings or illegal development infrastructure.
In general, the discourse of the political claimants who represent public sphere actors
centers on the causes of the forest fires which occurred during June and July of 2007
in Greece, the responsibilities of those accountable, and the proposed resolutions.
Political claims raised issues not only related to criminal acts or violation of laws
hurting forests, but also to forest policy and legislation. These concerns and
suggestions referring to the experience of the last decades as well, aimed to improve
the existing legislative framework and policies in order to protect the remaining
invaluable forests in Greece.
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Δασικές πυρκαγιές, πολιτικές διεκδικήσεις και περιβαλλοντικό εγκλημα : η περίπτωση της Ελλάδας απο 01/06/07 έως 31/07/07
