Dadia – Evros
We speak with Giorgos Chondropoulos, a journalist at the Municipal Radio Station of Alexandroupolis “Sferikos.”
What is happening two years after the devastating fires in Europe’s second most important habitat: the Dadia Forest?
41 wind turbines have been installed in a riparian area, from the Dadia Forest to the Evros Delta. Violations of Natura zones, firebreaks, forest maps, spatial planning, German and Greek companies, the drop in water levels in the Evros Delta, and the death of fish due to brackish water, are among the issues being discussed.
563 deaths of wild birds have been caused by the wind farms in Evros and Rodopi.
On March 20, 2024, the Samothraki municipal council unanimously voted “NO” to two offshore wind farms, located northeast of Samothraki and southeast of Alexandroupolis, with a total capacity of 600 MW, by TERNA and the Copelouzos group.
On April 6, 2024, a joint ministerial decision was issued to prohibit the installation and operation of wind farms within the National Park at the “Trikorfo” location. However, the Ministry of Environment sent a consultation report to the services, effectively initiating the licensing process (!).
The Ministry has also delayed the rejection decisions for months while ignoring requests from environmental organizations, citizens, and institutions during the public consultation process.
The “next day” in the border region of Evros includes environmental concerns, the primary sector, ongoing tree cuts, the fence, the changing character of the capital city and the entire prefecture, the LNG pipeline, and the militarization of the area, which cannot all be covered in just one program on the sensitive region of Thrace.