Rui André, Mayor of Monchique, entrepreneurs and forest owners in the municipality are "concerned" about the lack of a solution for the wood burned in the 2018 fire.
In a note sent to the editorial offices by the Municipality of Monchique, the mayor calls on the Government for "an immediate solution and support to overcome this situation that jeopardizes the sustainability of the municipality's forest, enhances the risk of fire, abandonment and disordering of the territory and it can also result in phytosanitary problems, with the emergence of pests and diseases, with impacts on flora and fauna».
Rui André met this Thursday with the Municipal Commission for the Defense of Forest Against Fires of Monchique, after hearing «the concerns of businessmen linked to logging and the association of forest producers in the western Algarve (ASPAFLOBAL), that threaten to abandon the land due to the lack of a market that would allow the continuity of this activity and the disposal of wood burned in the last fires».
As the note explains, 'until February 2021, the market operated regularly, with the burned woody materials being sent to the nearest biomass factory in this county, located in Cercal do Alentejo, about 100km away, for processing into pellets/production energy'.
However, «the recent insolvency process of this factory, which was apparently carrying out remodeling works, caused a huge obstacle to the removal of this burned wood, since the cutting and transport of this material is no longer economically viable, mainly due to the increase the price of transport to any other biomass plant'.
According to the Municipality of Monchique, «the unexpected closure of this factory caught companies in the county by surprise, which in the meantime have been removing this material, accumulating it in piles of wood all over the county, in the so-called “loaders”, waiting for the reopening of this factory. This situation is yet another reason for concern, as these tons of material can increase the risk of fire and an increased danger, particularly at a time when the critical period is approaching».
Taking into account “the impacts that this alarming problem can have on forest management and the repercussions in terms of the environment and
Community", Rui André "calls on the Government to seek a solution, and this municipality is available to collaborate in it, provided that concrete and immediate measures result from this that allow the resumption of this activity and the normal functioning of this market".
For the mayor, «the short-term solution is to make the extraction of this organic matter feasible and encourage transport and export to another biomass factory, as is the example of Huelva, in Spain, and the prices charged there are similar to those of the the Cercal do Alentejo factory'.
However, he continues, "the addition of another 100 kilometers represents an increase to double the transport costs, which makes the operation unfeasible".
The concern for the «inevitable abandonment of settlements that have not yet been repaired and the fact that the window of opportunity to clear these lands is approaching, almost three years after the great fire, requires a prompt response» for Rui André , even because, «at this moment, there are about 5 tons cut and parked in loaders and about 30 to be extracted within the burned area in the municipality of Monchique».
The mayor of Monchique also intends to have an urgent meeting with the Government in order to sensitize the authorities to this serious problem that was never addressed in the post-fire phase but which now cannot be postponed any longer, under penalty to call into question the management of this territory and constitute a needless demotivation in the face of the ambitious and strategic Landscape Reorganization and Management Program in progress».
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