On a cloudy spring morning in one of Athens' most densely inhabited districts, thousands of fresh saplings dotting a small hilltop park mark a fledgling effort to tackle crippling heat that critics say is long overdue.
This is Athens' first "micro-forest", part of an initiative by recently elected mayor Haris Doukas to plant 5,000 trees annually in the thickly concreted city, where in summer the thermostat routinely tops 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
