Lisbon, July 29, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese "Forest of the Future" movement on Wednesday accused the government of subsidising eucalyptus plantations whilst the countryside lies neglected, Europe is ablaze, and those who have planted native species face difficulties.
«The state continues to actively increase the risk of forest fires by subsidising the invasive and highly flammable eucalyptus species, whilst Europe is ablaze and Portugal is just a few degrees of longitude away from the same happening,» the movement said in a statement released today.
In the statement, the movement noted that the Environmental Fund had begun to «fund illegal eucalyptus plantations» through changes to the rules of the Floresta Ativa [Active Forest] programme, announced by the secretary of state for forests, Rui Ladeira.
Last month, Ladeira announced that the Floresta Ativa programme, which supports the clearing and management of forest land, would be relaunched «in the coming days», with a budget of €4 million.
Among other details, he explained that the programme will now allow «all species, including eucalyptus plantations, to submit applications, with differentiated funding figures», given that the interventions themselves «are also differentiated».
By «making public funding more flexible» for all species, eucalyptus plantations may now receive direct support of up to €800 per hectare, «whilst those who have planted native species face difficulties in recouping the money invested in fuel management», accuses the civic movement, founded in 2022, which challenges the current management of forest areas.
The statement laments that the government has «opened the public purse strings» to fund the clearing of eucalyptus plantations – many of which are illegal – and to directly subsidise fast-growing monocultures that fuel the profits of the pulp and paper industry.
«The land is being neglected, yet money is being spent to maintain and expand the species and types of plantations that make Portugal the country with the highest number of wildfires in Europe. There are completely illegal eucalyptus plantations throughout the country, violating the minimum distances required by law, situated next to homes and roads, and destroying watercourses. It is the same state that subsidises fossil fuel industries and emitters that are exacerbating the heat we are experiencing and driving climate chaos,» said João Camargo of the Forest of the Future Response Network, as quoted in the statement.
The movement adds that the new rules governing access to the ‘Floresta Ativa' scheme «are funding the spread of forest fires» at a time when the Mediterranean is ablaze and it is only by chance that Portugal is not completely engulfed in devastating flames like Spain, France, Tunisia and Algeria.
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