The Deputy Minister of the Environment Stavros Kalafatis chaired a meeting on Monday at the Decentralized Administration of Epirus and Western Macedonia in Ioannina, to discuss tackling the serious illegal logging phenomenon that is affecting many areas in the north of Greece.

The purpose of the meeting with representatives from the forest services, the police, fire brigade, Army and SDOE was to exchange ideas on dealing with illegal logging. Mr. Kalafatis explained that illegal logging “has many serious environmental, social and financial” effects and called for a coordination of efforts. The Deputy Minister acknowledged that further help was needed for the people in regional areas.

The sharp increase in illegal logging was attributed to the financial crisis, which contributed to the prices on heating to skyrocket, as wood burners are considerably cheaper than other heating alternatives, such as electricity, natural gas and oil. Furthermore there are increasing reports of Albanians gangs crossing the border into Greece to chop down trees.