Greece Forestry and Fishing
Sources: The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook
Although forests cover an estimated 15 percent of the country's land area, forestry makes a very limited contribution to Greece's GDP. In 1992 the industrial wood, firewood, and resins derived from Greek forests amounted to less than 1 percent of the GDP. Although the value of forest production showed a tendency to increase, the volume of production declined during the 1980s. Greek forests, which had been devastated during the World War II occupation and the Civil War, recovered to some extent in the postwar era. However, forest management, like other forms of land management, has been a very low priority of all postwar governments. Underutilized and overgrown, the forests have been plagued by fires in recent years. In the 1970s, forest fires burned about 78,000 hectares; in the 1980s, some 200,000 hectares of forest were destroyed by fire. The trend is continuing in the 1990s, although since 1985 fire protection efforts have intensified.
Despite its maritime tradition and its extensive coastline, Greece is not a major producer of fish. In 1992 fishing contributed 0.7 percent to the Greek GDP. In 1992 the Greek fishing fleet numbered 21,167 vessels with a total gross tonnage of 118,000. About three-quarters of its capacity was in vessels of less than 100 tons. In 1988 some 16,510 persons were employed in fishing. Fishing output has steadily increased since the 1980s. In 1983 Greek fishing production from all regions amounted to 99,090 tons (live weight). In 1991 output had risen to 148,768 tons (live weight), with a 50 percent increase in volume since 1983. Pollution in the Mediterranean and overfishing in coastal waters have reduced the traditional contribution of coastal output to domestic consumption. Most fish comes from the Mediterranean at large, and about 10 percent of the total in 1992 was caught off the Atlantic coast of North Africa. The three largest fishing ports are Piraeus in the south and the Macedonian ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala in the northern Aegean.
Data as of December 1994
NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Forestry and Fishing information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Forestry and Fishing should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.