Nearly four in every ten acres of forest in Attica have been consumed by flames in just nine years, according to updated data from the National Observatory of Athens. Following the major wildfire that broke out in Oinoi on July 5, 2026, scientists conducted a new analysis of burned areas, documenting the devastating impact that wildfires have had on Attica between 2017 and 2025. The study, authored by Kostas Lagouvardos, Vasiliki Kotroni, Theodoros M. Giannaros, and Giorgos Kyros, is based on data from the Copernicus Emergency Management Service and the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). According to the findings, between 2017 and 2025, a total of 13 major wildfires broke out across mainland Attica, burning more than 700,000 acres of land.
Read: No active front in the Oinoi fire — strong firefighting forces continue operations at the scene
Wildfires: 28% of Attica’s total surface area has burned
The total surface area of the Attica Region — excluding the Athens basin, Troizinia, and the islands — amounts to approximately 2.5 million acres. This means that within the past nine years, roughly 28% of the region’s entire land area has been burned.
Even more alarming is the picture regarding forested land. Of Attica’s approximately 1,230,000 acres of forest, around 465,000 acres have been destroyed by fire over the course of nine years. In other words, 38% of Attica’s forests have burned between 2017 and 2025 — a figure that starkly illustrates the scale of the environmental toll the region has suffered.
The map accompanying the analysis shows the perimeters of all major fires during the period, with different color coding distinguishing the burned areas of recent years from those recorded earlier. The visual makes plain the vast, cumulative footprint of successive wildfires across nearly the entire Attica region.
The scientists stress that the data was updated following the Oinoi fire, and express hope that this year’s fire season will not bring further large-scale forest destruction — so that the already alarmingly high figure of 38% does not climb any higher.
The data serves as a stark reminder of the environmental cost of relentless wildfires in Attica, and underscores the urgent need for meaningful prevention, strengthened forest protection, and more effective management of natural resources — at a time when the climate crisis is making wildfires ever more frequent and ever more devastating.
