national park "Walia Kalda" Northern Greece is on fire for the 13th day in a row

The forest fire in the Valia Kalda National Park on Mount Pindos in Northern Greece has been raging for the 13th day in a row. Twelve forest guards fight the fire, but without much success.

Walia Kalda, a unique wildlife sanctuary, is home to over 80 bird species, some of which are protected. Eagles, hawks, falcons, otters, roe deer, wild cats, bears and many more are threatened by fires and destruction of their habitat.

According to the fire service, the fire is burning in low plantings and shrubs, while black pines are not yet in danger.

A fire officer who has a picture of the situation reported efsyn on Monday that “there are still active outbreaks in various places, and we cannot say that they are under control.”

Valia Kalda 24 July

During these 13 days, two fire helicopters flew several times, which again failed to bring the fire under control. In conversation with the state news agency amna Grevena fire chief Antonis Kalaidopoulos said the fire was burning in a hard-to-reach area and it took a long time for firefighters on foot to reach it.

A similar fire in western Macedonia occurred in 2007, when Grammos burned, but then the authorities acted very differently, throwing into battle a large force of firefighters, mostly on foot, and making continuous flights of fire aircraft. In fact, Russian fire aviation also arrived at the same time. But even in 1992, large areas were destroyed by flames.

“At the moment, an area of ​​rare natural beauty is on fire towards the location of Arkudorema. But it seems that if there are no settlements and nothing threatens houses, then this is not a government priority … ” efsyn local journalist from North Macedonia.

The fire department reports that a black pine forest, tree trunks and a bush area are burning from a creeping fire, but they don’t even know how much area has burned out so far, and there is no assessment of damage, even temporary.

Fire in Valia Calde July 30, 2022, photo Kostas Kyriazis.

Valia Calda in the center of the Pindos National Park

Valia Kalda (the name means “warm valley” in the Vlach dialect) is a remote region of the Pindos mountains, one of the last habitats of the brown bear, wolf and wild goose. Pindos National Park is not just another beautiful forest, but a large ecosystem that is home to rare species of fauna and flora. The park has 72 species of birds, 6 species of amphibians and 7 species of reptiles, which are quite rare and protected throughout the world.

The Pindos National Park covers an area of ​​approximately 69,000 acres and includes the Valia Calda Valley at its core. The core is located at an altitude of 1400 meters and is surrounded by mountains Ligos and Mavrovouni (Fleg peak 2159 meters) up to the peaks of Mount Avgo (2177 meters).

Dense pine, spruce and beech forests, rolling hills, rivers and crystal-clear streams, ponds and waterfalls make Valia Kaldu a popular hiking destination, the tourism site notes. greekadventure.com. It is the second large national park protected NATURA 2000 (virtually devoid of state protection)after dadia national park in Evros in northeastern Greece, where more than 4,000 hectares burned, destroying the habitat of rare and protected fauna.

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