The Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) assures that «no Management Plan of Monchique concerning the Forest Intervention Area of Perna da Negra, presented by the Association of Forestry Producers of the Barlavento Algarvio (ASPAFLOBAL) is yet to be approved».
The ICNF, through the tutelage, reacted to the advanced news being Tuesday by the Público newspaper, which assured that "a structuring project" for this area of Monchique, the one where the fire that has been raging for five days started, had been in place for "seven months » awaiting approval from that body.
According to the newspaper, the project foresaw, "among other interventions, the creation of water points, fire breaks and access paths to fight fires in the mountains, one of the main problems faced by firefighters in the fight against the most recent fires in the region."
The project was effectively the subject of an application, admitted the ICNF, but the PDR2020, an operational program that manages European Union funds for rural development.
"As part of this application, ASPAFLOBAL requested an opinion from the ICNF on 08/06/2018 on the project's compliance with the Municipal Plan for the Defense of Forest Against Fires (PMDFCI). This request received a favorable opinion from ICNF, which was communicated to ASPAFLOBAL on 31/07/2018", assured the ICNF.
The institute took the opportunity to stress that, "under no circumstances would a request for a mandatory opinion made in June to the competent body of the national forestry authority (ICNF) result in work carried out before the critical period."
This is because "applications for the PDR2020 comply with strict requirements imposed by community legislation for its approval", which, says the ICNF, "were not complied with", in the case of ASPAFLOBAL's candidacy.
«The Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Algarve, the entity that is analyzing this application, asked ASPAFLOBAL for clarifications that so far have not been answered», he added.
Therefore, concluded the ICNF, "there are no conditions for the application submitted to PDR2020 by ASPOFLOBAL to be approved at this moment".
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