The Republican National Guard (GNR) begins today the inspection of forest land following the deadline for clearing, which was extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, providing for the application of fines between 280 and 120.000 euros.
"So far, 23.852 non-compliance situations have been identified, already communicated to the respective municipalities, with greater incidence in Leiria, Castelo Branco, Viseu, Coimbra, Braga, Santarém, Vila Real, Viana do Castelo and Aveiro", said the GNR, in response to the Lusa agency, within the scope of the deadline for clearing forest land.
With the start of inspection of forest land clearing, "the priority of action of the GNR will focus on the 1.114 priority parishes" due to the high risk of fire and the approximately 24 thousand identified breaches risk administrative infraction proceedings, punishable by fines of 280 to 10.000 euros, in the case of a natural person, and from 1.600 to 120.000 euros, in the case of legal persons.
At issue is the deadline for carrying out the land clearing operations, which ended on March 15, but was extended, by decision of the Government, first to April 30 and then to May 31, following the exceptional and temporary measures related to the covid-19 disease pandemic.
On April 16, after the first extension of the deadline for land clearing until April 30, the Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Patrícia Gaspar, said that the model for preventing and fighting forest fires could undergo “new adjustments”.
Operation Floresta Segura 2020 began, as in previous years, "with a strong awareness campaign", in which "3.572 awareness actions were carried out, which reached 55.044 people".
According to the National Association of Forestry, Agricultural and Environmental Companies (ANEFA), regardless of the extension of the period for clearing forest land, this year there was less demand from owners for these works, fearing, therefore, “major catastrophes ”.
"If you combine the factors observed in 2017, with regard to climate change, from all these peaks that arise from heat and wind, we will face major catastrophes this year, I have no doubts about that", said the president of ANEFA, Pedro Serra Ramos, in statements to Lusa news agency, considering that the clearing of forest land is a “fundamental problem”, which goes beyond the question of deadlines.
In addition to the approximately 24 thousand cases of non-compliance in the cleaning of forest lands, the GNR records “12 detainees and 68 identified for the practice of the crime of forest fire, with 370 files being drafted for administrative offenses”, of which one for lack of recovery of burnt areas, 296 in fires and 73 in fires, due to unauthorized execution or negligence in their execution, revealed the GNR.
In view of the owners' failure to meet the deadline for land clearing, the city councils have to guarantee, by June 30 – a deadline that was until May 31, but has also been extended –, that all fuel management works are carried out.
In case of non-compliance by the municipalities, “the following month, 20% of the twelfth of the current transfers from the Financial Equilibrium Fund (FEF) are retained”, according to the Exceptional Regime for the Secondary Networks of Fuel Management Bands.
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