Greek National Action Plan for Combating Desertification.

According to the article 10 of the Convention the National Action Plan must determine the factors that contribute to desertification of specific areas of the country, as well as the practical measures required to face desertification and deal with consequences of draught. It must also specify the role of the Government, of the local societies and of the land users, as well as the required and available means. The objectives of the Plan are the following: 1. Determination of the threatened areas and their extend; 2. Estimation of the effectiveness of the applied policy and of the measures taken; 3. More effective application and use of the existing structures and institutions; 4. Elaboration of additional political, institutional, economical, social, and technical measures, and proposals on mechanisms required for their specification and implementation; 5. Formulation of a national strategy, to prevent and mitigate desertification, and to promote sustainable land and water use, and to secure biodiversity, while minimizing social conflicts concerning land use; 6. Promotion of public awareness and encouraging active participation of affected populations and of their local agencies to the formulation and implementation of local and specialized measures; 7. Selection and formulation of priorities and pilot - actions; 8. Demographic and socio-economic rehabilitation of areas facing desertification; 9. Establishment of a network for early diagnosis and warning; 10. Co-operation with respective National Programs from other countries and linking to corresponding international networks.
The most effective measure to prevent and mitigate desertification is land-use planning and the implementation of its principles. This will also have significantly favourable effects on various developmental aspects: economy, demography, and environment. The existing land use status, except from the measures for forest protection and management, remains in most of its part confused and anarchic. The main principle applied for determining land use will be: Permitted land uses and changes will be only those, which ensure sustainability and do not degrade biomass productivity and other land functions and processes. Following this principle, proper land uses for each region should be defined. Effective control of soil erosion will be achieved by applying the principles of sustainable Land Use planning. Irrigation should be spatially, temporally and quantitatively controlled so that water usage does not exceed maximum crop requirements. Applied water should also cover the needs for leaching of soluble salts.
The following measures will be taken for forest fire control: 1. Promoting public awareness 2. Measures to prevent forest fires and discourage arsonists. These measures could comprise: Clarification of the land ownership status in forests and woodlands according to the current cadastral plan; Restoration of the pre-fire land use in all burned forest lands; Development of an effective system for arresting and punishing the arsonists; Application of special forest management practices and techniques minimizing fires; Establishment of less flammable forest communities; Forest thinning and maintenance of appropriate forest structure; Clearing, pruning, controlled brushwood burning and removal of wood residues; Measures for quick fire detection and control and for keeping damages low.