The Government decided this Tuesday to extend one more month, until May 31, the deadline for forest owners and producers to clean forests and lands, reported the office of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
In a note to the media, the Government revealed that, in accordance with a joint order from the Minister of Interior Administration and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, it decided to “extend by one more month the period for forest owners and producers to clean the forests.” and lands”, so “the deadline, which ended on April 30, was extended until May 31.”
“The decision is related to the rainfall recorded in recent months and the high water content in the soil, which affected many of the fuel management operations and favored the rapid growth of vegetation in the areas already intervened,” explains the note.
Also according to the Government, weather forecasts indicate that, in May, “adequate conditions will be maintained for the safe development of fuel management activities and that, therefore, this additional period will allow operations to be carried out in all necessary places.”
“Vegetation management within the secondary network of fuel management bands constitutes one of the pillars of the integrated rural fire management policy, especially in the field of protection against rural fires, guaranteeing greater effectiveness.” in the defense of people, animals and property against the spread of fires—as well as in terms of rural fire management,” allowing the annual number of occurrences to be mitigated, the note reads.
In a February order, the Secretary of State for Civil Protection and the Secretary of State for Nature Conservation and Forests identified 991 priority parishes for fuel management inspection in 2024, between May 1 and 31, in the case of owners of rural land close to buildings. or in groups that border forest areas.
The work would have to be completed by April 30, and the inspection will also be carried out, between June 1 and 30, in the sections of between five and 10 meters of the road, rail, and electricity and gas transport networks. natural, which are the responsibility of the respective entities responsible
In the case of land located in rural areas, the cleaning must cover up to 50 meters from buildingsin forest, mountain or natural pasture areas.
In population centers located in or near forest areas, fuel handling is mandatory within an outdoor radius of no less than 100 meters, a distance also provided for campsites or industrial parks and landfills.
City councils, in addition to having to be informed of fines from entities outside the municipality, can notify the owners for cleaning or, subsequently, carry out the works and recover the expenses.
The National Federation of Forest Owners Associations (FNAPF) had already warned that bad weather conditions and lack of labor could compromise the work and asked to extend the deadline.
“The feeling is always the same, that there cannot always be a date for this period, because nature rules. This year it rained a lot, until late, […] All lands continue to attack. If the grass is cut now, the fine materials, which are what spread the fires, will all explode,” the president of the FNAPF board of directors, Luís Damas, told Lusa in mid-April.
For the association leader, the deadline of April 30 to complete fuel management “not factible” and, therefore, he defended “the postponement until the end of May or until June 15”, since, in addition to having rained a lot, “there is no work.”
Source: Observadora
