guardian | It is early Sunday. The sun has barely risen above the chestnut
forest that lies somewhere near the crest of Mount Pelion, but loggers'
pick-up trucks are already streaming through the muddy slush, their
cargo bouncing in the back. Theirs are rich pickings, much in demand as
winter envelopes the villages and towns of an increasingly
poverty-stricken Greece. As they pass, they do not look up because many do not have permits to do what they have just done.
From
their new home a little further on, Yiannis Chadziathanasiou and Natasa
Rempati watch the ebb and flow of this traffic. So, too, do the
residents of Tsagarada, the picturesque hamlet where the sound of
chainsaws pierces the morning air. "Things are getting desperate," says
Chadziathanasiou, who clothed Greek celebrities before he moved to the
countryside. "You hear all the time of people illegally clearing forests
for firewood. It's horrible if you're a green like me."
In their
wellington boots and designer jeans, the couple stand out in Tsagarada.
Like most middle class Europeans raised in cities, nature is a new world
and one that does not come naturally to them. Until last year, both
enjoyed successful careers in fashion and architecture. "But then we did
our sums," said 29-year-old Rempati, whose firm had designed hospitals
and metro stations before being forced to close down. "And although we
were both earning good salaries, taking home around €3,500 a month, we
were really squeezed. There was never a euro left over. Our heating bill
alone cost €3,000 and that was before the €500 we spent on petrol and
all the new taxes. We were stressed and really anxious and didn't think
we could afford to go through another winter in Athens."
