For the fifth consecutive year, the Army will again watch over the rural areas of the municipality of Loulé, as part of a fire prevention measure. The protocol was signed this Tuesday, August 18th.
This act was formalized in the Main Hall of the Paços do Concelho building, by Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, and Aníbal Saraiva, infantry colonel, representing the Portuguese Army – Infantry Regiment N.º1.
The presence of the military will be mainly noted in the parishes in the interior of the Municipality of Loulé, taking into account that 40% of its total area is occupied by very high forest hazard classes, including the Protected Landscape areas of Rocha da Pena and Fonte Benémola, and 54% of its territory is covered by the Natura 2000 network.
According to the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, Loulé is the Algarve municipality with the largest number of villages (141) and agglomerations in the 4 parishes considered as the first priority in the Defense of Forest Against Fires: Alte ( 33), Ameixial (16), Salir (54) and União de Freguesias (38).
The soldiers will be installed during the surveillance period at the Malhão Primary School, in the parish of Salir, in permanent articulation with the District Relief Operations Command and the Loulé Municipal Civil Protection Service.
Military patrols are carried out daily by a 4×4 vehicle with three elements, covering an average of 140 kilometers per day, and takes place during the critical period of forest fires as it is the one in which the risk index is higher, in order to reduce the probability of its occurrence, thus reinforcing the safety of populations and deterring negligent behavior.
In addition to the Portuguese Army, they also constitute the Patrol and Surveillance Device in the Municipality, the Municipal Forestry Intervention Teams of the Municipal Civil Protection Service, the Youth Volunteer Brigades, the Hunters Associations (protocoled with the Municipality), the Parish Councils , Guarda Nacional Republicana, the Forestry Sapadores Team of the Association of Forestry Producers of Serra do Caldeirão and the Nature Watchers of the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests operating in the Ria Formosa area. There are also two Watch Towers in the Municipality (Zebro and Malhão), both in the parish of Salir.
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