Decree-Law No. 82/2021 of October 13

Summary: Establishes the Integrated Management System for Rural Fires in mainland Portugal and defines its operating rules.

Decree Law here

The XXII Constitutional Government committed itself to implementing the national system for the integrated management of rural fires, implemented in the National Plan for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (PNGIFR), approved through Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 45-A/2020, of June 16, defining a model of horizontal articulation of all entities participating in structural prevention, in systems for self-protection of people and infrastructure, in decision support mechanisms, in the device for fighting rural fires and in the recovery of burned areas.

The dramatic impact of the great rural fires on the lives of the Portuguese, with the loss of lives, property and thousands of hectares of forest, determined the firm will to change the national paradigm in terms of preventing and fighting rural fires, as expressed in the guidelines approved by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 157-A/2017, of 27 October, and the principles expressed in the Single Directive on Prevention and Combat, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 20/2018, of 1 October March.

This new regime introduces the aggregate management of rural territories and the mobilization of the agricultural and livestock sectors to integrate prevention with suppression, recognizing that the adoption of good practices in landscape planning and management, namely the implementation and maintenance of management strips of fuel, the disposal and reuse of leftovers, the renewal of pastures or agroforestry mosaics, are crucial for a more resilient, viable and value-generating territory.

This change also considers Law no. 33/96, of 17 August, which defines the bases of national forestry policy, seeking national, regional and sub-regional governance, with functions for planning and coordinating prevention, detection, and collaboration in the suppression of fires, and determining landscape-scale management and the promotion of forest exploitation planning.

Council of Ministers Resolution No. 12/2019, of 21 January, approved the vision, objectives and implementation measures of the Integrated Management System for Rural Fires (SGIFR), for which it is important to establish the appropriate legal framework.

The SGIFR provides, at the national level, the macro-policies and strategic guidelines that contribute to reduce the danger and change the behaviour of the owners, users and direct and indirect beneficiaries of the rural territory.

Likewise, it is necessary to define the contents of the various planning instruments for the integrated management of rural dwellings at national, regional, sub-regional and municipal levels.

An information system on rural dwellings is created, in order to aggregate and disseminate all relevant technical information from the SGIFR.

There is a clear commitment to the definition of a model based on the prevention and minimization of risks, either through awareness-raising actions, or through the establishment of territorial defence networks, in which fuel management assumes a leading role with repercussions on the sanctioning regime.

Background

Portugal has one of the highest forest fire risk rankings in Europe. Fire researchers all point to the same combination of contributing factors: shifting demographics with population moving from rural to urban areas, changes in land use with more agricultural and forested areas left unattended and not being maintained, and fragmentation of land ownership patterns that discourage investment in forest management and fire planning.

The trend of annual burned area for the last four decades confirms a new level in fire activity in Portugal, despite an increased investment in the amount of firefighting assets.

Rural fires are one of the most serious natural disasters in Portugal, not only because of the high frequency with which they occur and the extent they reach, but also because of the destructive effects they cause. In addition to economic and environmental damage, they can be a source of danger to people and property.

In 2017 a total of 117 died as a result of fires that took place in June and October. Over 520,000 hectares of forest, shrub, natural pasture and agricultural land has been burned and people have lost their homes and business affected.

Reports (In English) on these two fires can be downloaded here: 

EU Super case Study Fire October 2017

Fires in Portugal 15th October 2017

On average each year some 110,000 hectares are destroyed by fires most caused through negligence. Before 2017, 2003 was a record year in terms of area burned in mainland Portugal: about 425,716 ha. Such negligence takes many forms in particular; cleaning land by burning during the critical fire period (normally 1st July to 30th September each year); not taking proper precautions when cleaning of land is permitted and other negligence acts such as discarding cigarette ends. It is estimated that over 90% of fires are caused through negligence and deliberately.

The spread of a fire depends on weather conditions (wind direction and intensity, relative air humidity, temperature), degree of dryness and type of vegetation cover, terrain, access to the fire site, time of intervention (time Between the alert and the first intervention in the fire attack, commonly referred to as the initial attack), etc.

Climate studies now show a disturbing trend, particularly for Portugal and other Southern European countries. Work completed as part of the European Forestry Institute’s larger study of wildfire issues projects that temperature levels (especially in summer) in Portugal will be hotter and precipitation levels lower than average (Moreno, 2009).

Increase in temperatures is now firmly established as a trend and showing no signs of abating in the near future. As early as 2002, researchers were confirming significant increases in the minimum and maximum temperatures for the Iberian Peninsula (Miranda, 2002 and Pereira, 2004).

More importantly, this trend was particularly noticeable in Spain and Portugal. Confirming this thesis, during 2017 Portugal experienced the driest September ever recorded and the hottest October ever recorded in 87 years of record keeping

Those who own a house in the country or in the forest are more vulnerable to fires because of the proximity of vegetation. Cleaning the vegetation around houses is the best way to prevent a fire from reaching you and your property.
Therefore, comply with the rules and restrictions in force.