Thank you Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was beautiful and inspiring. I had the great fortune to meet her personally in Copenhagen, in 1995. The UN hosted Conference against poverty was the venue and she was one of the most inspiring speakers. Wangari, dressed in traditional African clothes, with her colourful turban, won us over with her honest, no-nonsense speech [...]

Theodorakis protests with music

Mikis Theodorakis, the world-famous Zorba the Greek music composer, continues to be a shiny example for the intellectuals of our country. I do not necessarily agree with all his actions and statements but when an old and sick man has the courage to speak out against the selling of state-owned land I respect him. On [...]

Greece in fire alert – strong winds and negligence the main factors

According to Greek daily Kathimerini the fires raging in the North East of Greece, in the Thrace area and very close to the Greek Turkish borders, have destroyed more than 15 thousand acres of wooded and agricultural land. About 10% of the nature reserve of the Dadia forest have been burnt while there is no [...]

Fires in Εvros – Thrace but also in Athens

A fire that broke out in Thrace has been rekindled this morning. The strong winds that blow in the area are pushing the fire towards the Dadia forest, a world famous forest reserve, home to many wild birds of prey. A fire broke out yesterday in a southern Athens suburb – Ano Glyfada. It is [...]

Corfu fires under partial control – smaller ones in Zakynthos

A government delegation arrived to Corfu early today, Wednesday, to coordinate the fire fighting struggle and examine its causes. The Prefect of the Ionian islands claimed again that the number of fires and their timing points to arson. Fires in the island of Zakynthos, another Ionian island, strengthen this argument. The fires are still on [...]

Lake Plastiras mirrors the Agrapha mountains-a year – round greek destination

Agrapha means the “unwritten” in Greek. According to local history the Agrapha mountains provided their inhabitants with perfect coverage from the Ottoman armies – either their difficult to cross rivers and difficult to climb ridges or their extreme poverty allowed them to remain free and never to be written in the Sultan’s books – Agrapha.  [...]

The Greek government insists on selling out the country in order to “save” it

Yesterday Ms Birbili, Environment Minister, challenged the latest government ruse to raise money: she refused to “legalise” houses built in non-urban zones and without building licences in exchange for quite large fines. Today, after meeting with Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou, Ms. Birbili agreed that the decision had been made by the Council of Ministers and [...]

Greek government faced with potential split

The first ever Minister of Environment in Greece, Ms T.Birbili, Prime Minister’s Papandreou personal choice, is also the first Minister to refuse a proposal by the Ministry of Economics. Ms. T. Birbili stated at a recent interview that she will not condone any legislation that will hurt the environment in order to collect taxes. This [...]

The “secret” war of Keratea – government versus the people of Lavreotiki

Keratea is a quiet, sleepy little town lying to the south east of Athens. Surrounded by fields, low hills, olive groves and orchards it has a charming serene quality which has attracted, in addition to its original inhabitants, a large number of Athenians who commute every day just to escape the noise and the pollution [...]

Keratea resistance festival

Keratea, south east of Athens, has been “chosen” as the site for the new landfill of Attica. The inhabitants oppose this arbitrary decision and a “silent” war has started between special forces and the citizens of the small town. This weekend the people of Keratea staged a three day Resistance Festival. A playground and puppet [...]