Lisbon, July 1, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese environmental association Zero warned on Tuesday that "without a genuine national effort to change behaviour and manage the land, human tragedies" could be repeated due to rural fires, expressing concern about the area burned and arson.
"Without a serious reorientation of public policies, and without a genuine national effort to change behaviour and manage the land in a sustainable manner, the 2030 targets will not be met and, in all likelihood, we will see a repeat of human tragedies," said Zero in a statement released on the day that forest firefighting resources were reinforced and the ’Delta level" began.
The association took advantage of the start of the “reinforced - Delta level” phase to make a “critical assessment” of the report by the Agency for Integrated Rural Fire Management (AGIF) delivered last week to parliament and the government.
For Zero, the lack of effective measures to remunerate ecosystem services, failure to meet the controlled fire objective and the absence of a coherent financing strategy, in addition to the issue of rural fire management not having political weight in the current Government and "the necessary equidistance to be able to articulate and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of investments of the Integrated Rural Fire Management System (SGIFR), which amount to €638 million".
The association stresses that structural change is "at risk", warning that the 2030 targets are "increasingly distant".
Zero also expresses concern about the area burned in 2024, which was four times more than in 2023, with arson responsible for 84% of the area burned last year, and with 16 deaths due to fires.
"From reading [the AGIF report], some worrying aspects immediately stand out: although there were fewer fires in total (which is positive), arson is responsible for 84% of the area burned, which is four times higher than the previous year. In addition, there were again fatalities associated with the fires," the note said.
Zero also points out that there is "a slowdown in the measures of the National Plan for Integrated Rural Fire Management (PNGIFR), with the implementation of the National Action Plan standing at 48%, with 25% of initiatives" still only on paper.
The association considers that "the system has failed to meet the target of 0.3% set for large fires by 2024" and regrets the lack of measures against arsonists, given that AGIF only suggests "police and judicial action".
"Instead of “putting all our eggs in one basket” on fuel management or firefighting — tasks that may not deliver the desired results — if we invested a small amount in trying to solve this social and public health problem, for example by creating multidisciplinary social reintegration and mental health teams, we would most likely see immediate gains with a significant impact on reducing the area burned and protecting people and property," Zero adds.
CMP/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
