Portugal’s Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF) warns of the possibility of “faster and more severe” fires, which could burn more than 750,000 hectares in a single year without active vegetation management. Presenting its 2023 report today of the Integrated Rural Fire Management System (SGIFR) to parliament, AGIF highlights successes achieved in recent years in reducing the number of fires and area burnt, but stresses the country is facing “the paradox of fire” due to the lack of planned fuel management. “If we don’t increase the area actively managed with more forestry, more silvopastoralism (forest grazing) and controlled fire, Portugal will be increasingly exposed to severe fires that can burn more than 750,000 hectares in a single year and/or destroy unique sites and threaten important infrastructure and urban communities,” warns the document.
AGIF warns of possibility of “faster and more severe fires”
AGIF is led by forestry engineer Tiago Oliveira
