YRE Competition 2022
2nd Place - Photo reportage of 3-5 photos
11-25 years old

By Luís Martins

Since the beginning of 2021, in Portugal, 1,200 fires have occurred and an area of 5,477 hectares has burned, according to the note issued by the Lusa news agency on the data sent by the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection. In other words, the fires have more than doubled compared to March 2020, translating into an area burned almost seven times larger, leading to reflection on the government's forestry strategy, against the backdrop of the tragic fires of 2017.

The data sent to Lusa by Civil Protection regarding the fires that occurred between January 1st and March 25th, 2021, indicate that 83% occurred in bushland areas. This increase reminds and alarms to the importance of a good forest strategy, such as clearing, land preparation and good reforestation, in order to avoid more dramatic situations, bringing to mind the devastating fires of 2017. "Prevent so as not to have to remedy", for our President of the Republic, should be the motto for the National Action Programme of the Integrated Rural Fire Management Plan.