Greece

Greece has failed to ensure it is ready for the forest fire season, a year after devastating wild fires killed 65 people, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Greece said on May 20. Last summer’s fires, the worst in decades, also scorched thousands of hectares of forest and farmland, destroyed villages and threatened archaeological sites. “Despite the (government’s) efforts there are still problems that, if not dealt with, will lead to the same problems as last year, or worse,” Dimitris Karavellas, head of the Greek branch of the WWF, told a news conference. (Reuters)