{"id":46,"date":"2025-04-01T12:17:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T11:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/centre-for-environmental-policy\/?p=46"},"modified":"2025-04-07T15:36:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T14:36:36","slug":"how-forests-heal-and-harm-lessons-from-euboeas-environmental-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/centre-for-environmental-policy\/2025\/04\/01\/how-forests-heal-and-harm-lessons-from-euboeas-environmental-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"How Forests Heal and Harm: Lessons from Euboea\u2019s Environmental Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Riqi Zhang, PhD Candidate at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London<\/em><\/p>\n

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In recent years, wildfires have become a recurring tragedy on the Greek island of Euboea. Some of the worst incidents occurred in 2007, 2021, and most recently in 2024, each leaving behind scorched earth, displaced communities, and deep environmental and social wounds. Euboea\u2014Greece\u2019s second-largest island\u2014has become a stark symbol of how climate change, land management challenges, and socio-economic vulnerability collide.<\/p>\n

In March 2025, I travelled to Greece to participate in the Interdisciplinary School for Environmental Crisis (ISEC)-A Fully Funded Opportunity for Students. As part of a multidisciplinary team of students, I worked on a project titled Deforestation and Reforestation of Euboea: Effects on Health, Economy, Society<\/em>. We sought to understand not just the environmental destruction caused by recurrent wildfires, but also their lasting impact on community wellbeing\u2014and to explore how reforestation, if done right, can help communities heal.<\/p>\n

From Smoke to Struggle: Why It Matters<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Forests are more than green landscapes\u2014they are living infrastructure, regulating climate, filtering air, protecting biodiversity, and supporting livelihoods. When they burn, the consequences ripple through every layer of society.<\/p>\n

In Euboea, years of recurring wildfires have exacerbated public health problems, with respiratory issues from smoke exposure, heat-related illnesses, and mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression becoming common. Many residents described waking up to skies darkened by smoke, unable to breathe properly, or fearful of the next evacuation order.<\/p>\n

The economic toll has also been staggering. Once known for its olive groves, pine honey, and eco-tourism, Euboea now faces agricultural collapse, dwindling tourism, and a sense of economic insecurity that stretches across generations. The fires have not only destroyed land and infrastructure\u2014they\u2019ve burned away confidence in the future.<\/p>\n

Culturally, the damage is harder to quantify but just as deep. Local festivals, farming traditions, and forest-based rituals have been disrupted, and interviews revealed a growing disconnect between younger generations and the land that once sustained their communities.<\/p>\n

A Journey of Discovery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My team at ISEC included students from diverse academic backgrounds\u2014medicine, engineering, and environmental science\u2014and from different countries and degree levels, including undergraduates, master\u2019s students, and PhD researchers. What united us was a shared recognition: environmental crises are human crises.<\/p>\n

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One moment that struck me was speaking to a local beekeeper whose hives had been lost in the 2021 fires and whose new ones were again destroyed in 2024. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the bees,\u201d he told us. \u201cIt\u2019s the plants, the air, the rhythm of life. Everything\u2019s broken.\u201d That moment helped shift our focus. This wasn\u2019t just about ecology. This was about memory, identity, and belonging.<\/p>\n

Through site visits, local meetings, and collaborative fieldwork, we began to see how reforestation could not only restore ecosystems, but also rebuild social trust, provide meaningful work, and heal emotional wounds\u2014if approached inclusively.<\/p>\n

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Breaking Down the Process<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To make sense of this complex issue, we examined the impacts of Euboea\u2019s recurring wildfires through three lenses: health, economy, and society.<\/p>\n