ACCORDING TO a study by WWF Greece and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, about 8,000 hectares of forest and scrubland in Attica has been arbitrarily built over between 1987 and 2007.

In the same period, the region has lost about 18,419ha of coniferous (pine) forest.

The study, compiled by comparing satellite images of the region, provides an authoritative picture of the loss of forestland to “extreme housing pressures” over the past two decades.

It estimates that the settlements in the region have grown in size by 19,192ha, almost half of this taking place in forest or scrubland.

The data show that at least 500ha of forest and a further 7,000ha of areas of low natural vegetation have been built on in recent years in Attica

Yet the study warns that these figures may “underestimate the real situation of urbanisation” as satellite imaging does not often detect buildings located in areas of thick vegetation.

Commenting on the findings, Dimitris Karavellas, head of WWF Greece, said: “We state again that we, as citizens, must stop treating the forest as a potential plot for building.”

WWF’s assessment of this year’s blazes reveals that one-third of the burned forest areas involved replanted tracts on Mt Pendeli, which were destroyed in previous wildfires in 1995 and 1998.

Natural regeneration in these areas, the study says, has now become practically impossible and will certainly require re-reforestation if its ecosystem is to be restored.

The report also calls for “strict regulations and restrictions” on hunting through Attica to allow stocks of protected bird species and reptiles to recover.