Background The island of Rhodes is one of the most fire-affected areas of Greece, especially Mount Attaviros which was devastated by a fire in 2008. The problem of forest fires is compounded by a lack of knowledge, in particular regarding the management of Mediterranean forests and their restoration after fires. Objectives The project aimed to close the knowledge gap on Mediterranean forests and to restore target habitats, such as matorrals Juniperus spp, which the 2008 fire damaged. In parallel, restoration work was planned to be carried out in areas with cypress forests (Acero-Cupression) and Mediterranean pine forests with endemic Mediterranean pines. As well as restoring these seriously damaged Natura 2000 habitats on Rhodes, the project aimed to produce a restoration guide for fire-afflicted Mediterranean forests, based on its findings. Results The Commission terminated the project on 30 June 2013 instead of the end of 2014 as originally foreseen. This decision was taken because of delays in the implementation of the conservation actions relating to increased bureaucratic procedures of the Municipality of Rhodes, the beneficiary. These impacted irreversibly on the expected results that would be greatly reduced and unreliable if the project had been allowed to continue. Moreover, the conservation interventions foreseen lost their usefulness, five years after the fire, since extensive natural regeneration was already occurring without these interventions. Conservation interventions partially implemented included: Anti-erosion interventions: Progress was limited to maintenance and repair of existing log barriers that had been put in place by the Rhodes Forestry Service soon after the fire, outside the project, in 15 of the 32 plots designated for this action. No further anti-erosion interventions took place as natural regeneration worked against erosion in the remaining plots; Soil improvement interventions: Wet sludge (as opposed to dry sludge foreseen in the proposal) was applied in 12 of the 32 plots designated for this action; Planting interventions: around 1,500 plants – compared to 40 000 plants initially estimated – were planted in 14 of the 32 plots designated for this activity; Irrigation interventions: irrigation proceeded in 12 of the 32 plots designated for this action. The intervention also was only carried out for three months – compared to the 27 months foreseen. In addition, the irrigation network foreseen was not acquired or installed. Irrigation proceeded manually using the tanker trucks purchased by the project.A draft version of the Good Practice Guide (GPG) was drawn up, giving a financial analysis of the interventions, the environmental safety of the applications (based on the a priori analysis of treated wastewater and sludge that were applied in the irrigation and soil improvement actions). The effectiveness of the interventions evaluated in the guide, however, refers only to the anti-erosion intervention, with inconclusive results. Nevertheless, the project’s achievements include: the Special Purpose Environmental Study (SPES) for part of the Natura 2000 site and the six thematic studies (Biodiversity Study, Geological Study, Climate Study, Water Resources Study, Impact Study of the 2008 forest fire, Risk Assessment Analysis) produced under the preparatory actions; the implementation plan and inherent experimental design of four types of restoration interventions (to be implemented singly or in combinations), topographic mapping of the project area and a GIS tool for the comparative assessment of the interventions through remote monitoring. The methodology and GIS tool are valuable given that they may be applied in other forest restoration projects/actions. But since the interventions were delayed and only partly implemented, there are no results available regarding their effectiveness. The beneficiary intends to promote use of the SPES and thematic studies by the competent authorities. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).