Zero alerts for delays in the Forest Intervention Plan

The environmental association Zero has warned of delays in the Forest Intervention Plan, and according to its assessment, nearly half of the short-term measures are behind schedule. According to Zero's analysis, and highlighting the " lack of public information " related to this matter, the environmental association stated in a statement that, of the 62 short-term actions included in the Forest Intervention Plan presented in March of this year, " approximately 29 initiatives appear to be behind schedule ."

If the calculations are made taking into account the total of individual targets established by the Government, of the more than 90 initiatives, "at least 42 appear to be behind schedule, representing around 46% of the total commitments for the current year," Zero added.

Among the delayed measures, Zero identified some priorities within the scope of the review of the legal regime for rural property, support and incentives, forest sappers and the evaluation of management instruments.

For the environmental association, it is essential that the Government explain on August 27, during the urgent debate that will take place in Parliament, the reason for these delays and its long-term vision for forests.

"The anticipated funding appears to be clearly insufficient to meet real needs, running the risk of turning a good intention into yet another incomplete exercise, with no concrete impact on the ground," the association added, further pointing out that "it is essential to carry out a rigorous assessment of the necessary investment costs."

Zero also emphasized that the new forest plan is similar to the previous one. " Whoever created it [the Forest Intervention Plan] seems to have forgotten that the National Integrated Rural Fire Management Plan 20-30 already existed, which includes many of the measures that were included in our plan ," it explained.

In this context, the environmental association argued that the National Plan for Integrated Rural Fire Management 20-30 should not be forgotten and that the Agency for Integrated Rural Fire Management (AGIF) should once again be directly supervised by the Prime Minister.

Another proposal from Zero is that a structural reform of rural properties should be carried out, integrating these properties into Landscape Management Units.

Mainland Portugal has been affected by large-scale rural fires since July, particularly in the North and Central regions.

The fires have already caused four deaths, including a firefighter, and several injuries, some seriously, and have completely or partially destroyed first and second homes, as well as agricultural and livestock farms and forest areas.

Portugal has activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which it has two Fire Boss aircraft, a Super Puma helicopter, and two Canadair aircraft.

According to provisional official data, as of August 23, around 248,000 hectares had burned in the country, more than 57,000 of which were in the fire that started in Arganil alone.