Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, Aug. 26, 2024 (Lusa) - Forestry engineering expert Joaquim Sande Silva argued on Monday that, after the fire on the Portuguese island of Madeira, we should wait for the system to regenerate in the spring, warning that forestation campaigns are usually the ‘worst option’.
‘I'm not one of those people who is in favour of starting afforestation campaigns after a fire, which is what ministers usually like to announce. What we need to do is try to understand how the system regenerates,’ he said, speaking to Lusa news agency about the fire that broke out on the island of Madeira on 14 August.
The researcher and professor at the Escola Superior Agrária of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra warned that planting trees after a fire is usually the ‘worst option’.
‘We have to see how the system reacts in the medium term. At the very least, wait until next spring before doing anything. And usually resorting to afforestation is the worst option. It's the political power's way of showing that it's doing something,’ he emphasised.
Joaquim Sande Silva explained that it's common in afforestation campaigns for the plants used ‘not to be suitable for the location’ or ‘to be bought from suppliers’ abroad, which causes ‘installation problems’ on the ground.
‘All of this, in the end, usually results in high failure rates. It's basically money thrown away [...] Nature often does better than man. It can cover the land more effectively and with more suitable species,’ he emphasised.
The expert, who was part of the two independent technical commissions for the Pedrogão and 15 October 2017 fires (on mainland Portugal), warned of the likelihood of there being a ‘regeneration of invasive species’, since the fire may have ‘stimulated the dispersal of eucalyptus seeds’.
‘Madeira has a problem with various invasive species, namely a species that few people consider to be invasive, but in fact is, which is eucalyptus, which has been expanding due to past fires,’ he said.
The researcher also recalled Madeira's orographic characteristics to defend emergency soil stabilisation works and prevent landslides in winter.
‘The way to prevent problems during rainy seasons is to carry out emergency stabilisation works, which, as the name suggests, are emergency. They will only be useful if they are done before the big rains,’ he said.
The rural fire on the island of Madeira broke out on 14 August in the mountains of the municipality of Ribeira Brava, gradually spreading to the districts of Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol and Santana. After 13 days, the regional civil protection organisation said that the fire ‘is completely extinguished’.
Data from the European Forest Fire Information System points to more than 5,045 hectares of burnt area.
During the days in which the fire raged, the authorities instructed nearly 200 people to leave their homes as a precaution and made public reception facilities available, but many residents returned home.
Today, the Câmara de Lobos municipality revealed that it had organised a tree-planting campaign in the areas affected by the fire, in a ‘symbolic initiative’ about what needs to be done once the land has been cleared.
RPYP/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
