High in the mountains of the Peloponnese, Greece’s iconic fir forests are dying in places untouched by fire, alarming scientists who warn of a deepening ecological crisis driven by climate change.
Greek firs are usually resilient trees, well adapted to drought, insects and periodic wildfires. But when forest researcher Dimitrios Avtzis surveyed a recent blaze, he found something unexpected: vast areas of fir trees turning brown and dying where flames had never reached. The scale was so unusual that he immediately alerted the environment ministry.
Experts say the damage is being caused by a combination of stresses. Prolonged drought, intensified by climate breakdown, has weakened the trees. At the same time, Greece has lost significant winter snow cover over recent decades, reducing the slow-release moisture that sustains mountain forests through dry months.
These weakened conditions have allowed bark beetles to spread rapidly. The insects burrow beneath the bark, disrupting water and nutrient transport. Once beetle populations reach outbreak levels, controlling them becomes extremely difficult. Similar die-offs linked to drought and beetles are now being reported elsewhere in southern Europe, suggesting a wider regional problem.
While Mediterranean forests can regenerate after fires, recovery is slow and uncertain under today’s harsher climate conditions. Scientists stress that action is urgently needed, including funding for monitoring, forest management and intervention.
“The knowledge and tools already exist,” Avtzis says. “What matters now is whether we act in time, because these events are only going to become more frequent and more intense.”
