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> The catalyst of Portugal forest fires is the extense eucalyptus plantations. That's at best baseless speculation, and one that doesn't stand to any objective
by rumanator 7y ago
> The catalyst of Portugal forest fires is the extense eucalyptus plantations.
That's at best baseless speculation, and one that doesn't stand to any objective scrutiny. The truth of the fact is that there was no forest fire prevention policy until the deadly Pedrógão Grande fire that left well over 60 dead, and even then the main cause was widespread abandonment of public and private property, where even municipalities failed to comply with the minimum legal obligations of clearing up their property and roadsides.
- hugoromano 7y agoe.g. Madeira Island: Laurel forest doesn't burn by arson, efficiently, people that tried, never succeeded more than 10sq meters, and were arrested. Only Gorse ulex europaeus and eucalyptus not managed forests (all introduced species) did burn out of control, guaranteeing success of the arsonist. My point is that fire-resistant species would help reduce fire propagation. Not even in "Pedrógão Grande fire", only after the fires of mid-October 2017 did the Portuguese government started to react, and by react I mean enforcing the law that has been around for 20 years.