School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Dimitrios Bakaloudis
School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Lab. of Wildlife & Freshwater Fish, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Ioannis P. Kokkoris
Department of Biology, Laboratory of Botany, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Fotis Maris
Department of Civil Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Kimmeria Campus, 67100 Xanthi, Greece
Margarita Arianoutsou
Department of Ecology and Systematics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
Johann G. Goldammer
The Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), Fire Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and Freiburg University, Georges-Koehler-Allee 75, D-79110 Freiburg, Germany
Francisco Rego
CEABN, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
V. Ramon Vallejo
Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences. University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal, 643., 08029 Barcelona, Spain
Georgios Tsantopoulos
Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 68200 Orestiada, Greece
During August 2021, a wildfire outbreak in Evia, Greece’s second largest island, resulted in a major environmental and economic crisis. Apart from biodiversity and habitat loss, the disaster triggered a financial crisis because it wiped out wood-productive forests and outdoor areas that attract visitors. This crisis highlighted the need for a new governance model in order to respond to environmental crises more effectively. The aim of this study was to investigate the acceptance and attitudes of relevant stakeholders towards establishing a Hub—a proposed governance model responsible for monitoring and restoring the natural capital and biodiversity after environmental crises. Results based on quantitative data collected via questionnaires showed that most respondents were positive to the Hub and perceived that its main functions should be to recommend measures after environmental crises and to facilitate cooperation among involved stakeholders. Moreover, results pointed to preferred funding sources, stakeholder groups that should participate in the Hub and key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring Hub’s performance. The applied methodology could guide the establishment of governance models both in the study area and other countries facing environmental crises.
