It is not with water, it is with earth: how to lock a re -order, the origin of so many fires

New Fire Fighting Plan is “sand to our eyes.” It’s all on the basic law, elaborated for almost 30 years.

Luís Montenegro announced on Thursday an intervention plan for the 2025-2050 forests. A 25 -year plan, which will be debated at the Assembly of the Republic. The objective, explained the prime minister, is “to consensualize a true pact for forest management and protection of the territory.”

But any new firefighting plan is “throwing sand to our eyes.” The criticism are from Manuel Carvalho, a journalist who has been following the subject for over 30 years.

The expert recalled that since 1996 that Portugal has one: “Everything is there. No more plans are needed. What is needed is to perform what we have. ”

Then Why not run? “Because the plans are designed in Lisbon. And our model is completely unable to involve agents on the ground. It is impossible for a central state to manage 3.2 million hectares of forest, with 400,000 owners and 308 municipalities, ”he replied.

The commentator also warned that this summer’s destruction scenario can be repeated later this year, or next. It is a discussion that “is 10 years old”, although admitting that knowledge of the evolution of fire “has evolved a lot” in Portugal.

O problem main, reinforces, is the transmission of scientific knowledge to the ground. “There is a wall, a huge pit,” he laments.

Regarding combat on the ground, and after listening to experts, Manuel Carvalho pointed out a flaw: “It is a mistake to combat with water A fire that has a certain energy production per square meter. Most of the time, You try to mitigate with land, with tractors, fighting the fires in the tail“.

Focusing on this year’s big fires, such as Trancoso and Arganil who burned an area equivalent to 40,000 soccer fields, the expert recalled that much of this area burned due to Requests.

“It is impossible to combat fire fronts that have flames of 10 or 15 meters. Not with the Canadair planes. But Avoiding rekindings is much easier. It is necessary to reflect, it takes formation on the ground, ”he said.

Manuel Carvalho also analyzed Montenegro’s stance in Viseu after the Council of Ministers: “Language, the countenance, the discourse changed radically. A closer tone, closer to reality. It could not be worse than it did in the early days, with the Prime Minister missed, the government made a mistake, the communication advisors made a mistake.”