Journal of Modern Greek Studies

Abstract:

We offer an overview of forest management in the Kingdom of Greece (the so-called Old Greece) over the period 1830–1880. We examine in particular the underlying ideas, public concerns, state efforts, economic considerations and social conditions which shaped the management of the Greek forests over the first fifty years of Greek statehood. Despite an ever-growing body of legislative measures, the Greek forests retreated during this period. The main reason for this development was the practical inability of the Greek government to enforce its envisaged protective/managerial framework, not only due to a lack of the necessary resources, but most importantly because the framework was at odds with the rural populations’ traditional uses of the forest and their practical needs, especially the needs of the transhumant shepherds of the period.