Planned changes to an old presidential decree for the protection of Mount Hymettus, east of Athens, promise to shield the area more effectively from forest fires and land developers.

The proposed changes, heralded yesterday by Deputy Agriculture Minister Costas Kiltidis, would abolish the two-tier system of protection established by the 1978 decree and create a new zone where any kind of building is strictly forbidden.

Kiltidis expressed his support for the concerns voiced by representatives of an organization set up to protect the mountain, which has this year seen three forest fires this year.

He told them that he backed their calls for a section of the mountain to be characterized as a national park. The core of Mount Parnitha, north of Athens, was also declared a national park several years ago, though this did not protect it from a disastrous forest fire last summer.

Kiltidis told locals that reforestation of burnt areas of Mount Hymettus would begin in the fall and that funding would be set aside to clear up garbage and rubble and to redesign the entranceways to the mountain.

President Karolos Papoulias yesterday expressed his support for a joint initiative by 12 environmental protection groups aimed at preserving Mt Hymettus and the few other tracts of green that are left in Attica. The initiative foresees the creation of an “observatory” to watch over Attica’s forests and green spaces and protect them against illegal construction or fire risks.

In related news yesterday, the Ombudsman issued a report that condemns the slow pace of regeneration works on the island of Evia, much of which was badly scorched in last year’s fires. According to the report, the progress of reforestation is painfully slow and the infrastructure has not been bolstered adequately to avert another similar disaster. Anti-erosion works are not in place because the necessary studies have not been funded, according to the report which also criticizes local authorities for failing to clear up illegal landfills, often the source of wildfires.