Environment Ministry

New land-use regulations to be approved by the Environment Ministry will attempt to limit tourism development in so-called "saturated" areas and spread it to less developed regions.

Bulgaria has gracefully stepped back from its candidacy to host the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), expressing a commitment to fostering successful cooperation within the Eastern European Group.

The Environment Ministry is to resurrect the plan for the partial diversion of Acheloos River in Epirus, western Greece, the implementation of which has been annulled five times by the Council of State.

The project will be included in the water management plan of Thessaly and deemed as necessary to cover part of the water deficit.

Over a third of Greece's underground water is of poor quality, according to the 2022 annual report from the Hellenic Survey of Geology & Mineral Exploration (EAGME). 

The Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association (EESDA) has noted serious gaps and problems in recycling in Greece. 

In a letter to the Environment Ministry, it said, "There are long-standing difficulties in the timely and effective implementation of legislation, as well as the operation of the competent authorities and bodies." 

Greece on Monday dispatched two Canadair fire-fighting aircraft after a call for assistance from fellow European Union member Cyprus to help fight a blaze that has scorched miles of mountainous terrain.

The fire burning on the island of Rhodes for a seventh day highlights the weaknesses of Greece's firefighting and forest management.

There have been positive steps, such as transferring the forest management agencies from the Agriculture to the Environment Ministry, but even that process is slow-moving, experts say.

An employee of the Forestry Department of Sperchiada, central Greece, was being treated in hospital on Friday after being brutally attacked by an illegal logger earlier this week.

The case of the Nammos beach restaurant on the island of Mykonos is heading toward closure after the Syros Town Planning Authority certified the company's compliance with the Environment Ministry's request that the illegal structures it had erected be demolished.

This has paved the way for the reopening of the sealed-off site. 

Animal rights activists and concerned citizens decry the illegal transformation of a 900-meter road in a Natura area on the island of Lesvos into a horse racing track.

Although the Environment Ministry was involved in the issue, calling for a "complete ban on any kind of excavation activity in the area," races were held as normal, and attended by local officials.