Disastrous fires that swept through southern Greece last month destroyed more than 97,000 hectares of forest, about a third of which are protected natural habitats, environmental group WWF said yesterday.

The fires in the Peloponnese, south of Athens, burned over 170,000 hectares overall, including agricultural land mostly covered by olive groves, according to a study compiled by the WWF’s Greek branch and scientists at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki.

The burned forest areas will take at least two decades to recover.

“Initially, we will have low vegetation, but we won’t have a forest before the end of a 20-year period and our generation will never see fir forests in these areas again,” said Panayiota Maragou, who drafted a WWF report on the damage.

Various animals, including the golden jackal, five species of lizards and turtles, were also hit, but it was too early to assess the extent of the damage, she said.

The fires last month killed at least 65 people, destroying or partially damaging an estimated 1,500 homes.

The WWF also said it will set up a group of lawyers to pursue developers hoping to build on land destroyed by the wildfires.

Lawyers will file private suits against developers who flout regulations, in an initiative backed by the Athens Bar Association.

Illegal building activity is cited as a major motive for fires started by arson.

“Every Greek says he loves trees. But shortly after a forest burns down, you’ll see a villa, a hotel, or even a new town spring up,” said Dimitris Karavellas, head of the WWF in Greece.

“This was a tragic summer and we never want to live through another one like it,” he added.