West Attica loses 64% of forest cover in a decade to wildfires
Satellite monitoring by Copernicus and the European Forest Fire Information System shows that six major wildfires between 2017 and 4 August 2026 burned more than 430,000 ha in the West Attica region of Greece. The region’s total area is about 1 million ha, of which 43 % has burned, and the forested portion (≈590,000 ha) has lost roughly 375,000 ha – a 64 % reduction.
The fires originated in the neighboring Boeotia area and spread to locations such as Kithairon, Mount Pateras and the Porto Germeno district. Authorities have placed Attica, Euboea, Chios and Lesbos under a red‑alert status, deployed additional fire‑fighting teams, and begun damage assessments. A two‑minister meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and a site visit by Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Eur. Tournas aim to accelerate compensation for affected residents, farmers and businesses.
Entities: Boeotia · Copernicus · Copernicus (European Union satellite programme) · Eur. Tournas · Kithairon · Kyriakos Mitsotakis · Mount Pateras · West Attica
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 3 SOURCES] West Attica’s total area is about 1 million ha, of which 43% burned in the last decade. (Meteo analysis based on Copernicus and EFFIS data.)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Copernicus and the European Forest Fire Information System provided satellite data for the burned‑area estimates. (Meteo analysis.)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Six major wildfires burned more than 430,000 ha in West Attica from 2017 to 2026. (Copernicus and EFFIS reports.)
- [● 2 SOURCES] The fires originated in Boeotia and spread to Kithairon, Mount Pateras and Porto Germeno. (Meteo reporting.)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A red alert was declared for Attica, Euboea, Chios and Lesbos due to fire risk. (Civil protection authority.)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Minister Eur. Tournas visited Porto Germeno to assess fire damage. (Government briefing.)
- [● 3 SOURCES] 64% of forest area in West Attica (≈375,000 ha of 590,000 ha) burned between 2017 and 4 August 2026. (Satellite data from Copernicus and EFFIS.)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A two‑minister meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was held to discuss compensation for fire victims. (Government briefing.)