The association Centro Pinus is “concerned” about the “failure” of the PDR2020, after concluding that only a remaining part of mainland Portugal’s forest area has been supported over the last seven years, a scenario it fears will unfold. repeat until 2027, as there were no adequate changes.
“In seven years, the area of forest species with approved projects represented only 2.4% of the forest,” according to the Pinus Center annual report accessed by DN/Dinheiro Vivo, which also notes that the bulk of applications for fire prevention was canceled due to lack of funds.
The concern of João Gonçalves, president of the association, is accentuated when he emphasizes that “the aid does not reach the regions of the country where it would be most needed, nor the owners that it would be important to help”. And he regrets that “Vale Floresta” is too late.
In a balance sheet of the forest chapter of the Rural Development Program (PDR) 2014-2020, the Pinus Center, despite acknowledging that the area funded “will have exceeded the 77,734 hectares of forest species with approved projects by 2021, this figure represents only 2, 4% of the continent’s forest in seven years of implementation” of the support framework.
inequality
Of the five measures envisaged in the PDR2020 for the forest, the one that affects João Gonçalves the most is precisely the one that has to do with the prevention of fires: “Look, there are about 400,000 forest owners, but the prevention measure alone got only 2,214 candidacies.”.
Despite the discrepancy between the number of landowners and applications, Centro Pinus points out that this was the second measure with the most applications submitted. And that might even be a cause for consolation if there wasn’t a negative side to it. The fact is that, as the Centro Pinus reveals, “the majority (60%) of the applications submitted for prevention had no budget. The implementation rate was only 45%”. On the other hand, only 4% of fire recovery measures remained without funding.
A door without locks
“These data are illustrative of the failure of this financial instrument”, directed at the forest, criticizes João Gonçalves. In other words, by analogy he says: “There is more money to restore the forest after the fire, that is, after the house has been robbed, than to put the lock on the door, to prevent theft, in this case the fire”.
But, still talking about the prevention metric, the manager points out that not all funding goes to preventing fires, and that the amount is shared with applications aimed at preventing disease and pests in trees. And here too, the Pinus Center concludes: by 2021, more than half of the expenditure on approved projects was for the prevention and control of pests and diseases, and only 22% for the management of combustible vegetation”, the modality that would help the fires to prevent.
Alentejo versus North and Center
The association dedicated to the appreciation of the pine forest makes another comment when reading the results of the PDR2020, now related to the recipients, to point out “another failure”. He believes that of the €41.7 million paid under this program until 2021 for the prevention of threats (fires and vermin), “the majority did not go to the areas most vulnerable to fires” .
The Pinus Center notes that “of this EUR 41.7 million, the bulk (53%) was paid in the Alentejo, the region that continues to concentrate most of the forest support measures (excluding payments for the restoration of the woods). after the fire)”.
In this context, João Gonçalves warns that “support for the majority of forest owners in the north and center of the country remains inadequate”, compounded by the fact that the follow-up to the PRD, the PEPAC (Strategic Plan for the Common agricultural policy). policy) 2023-2027 , seeing that it “has the same problems”, with support remaining “insufficient”, in terms of “not making life easier for small landowners”.
How to reach people in need
There was hope in the announced Vale Floresta in the framework of the state budget for 2023, which provided for a budget allocation of 5 million euros, but the Pinus Center found that “the budget of the Environmental Fund published in March only refers to 3 million”. But more important than the cuts, the association emphasizes the fact that applications have not even been opened yet.
“The Vales Floresta are a fundamental contribution for small landowners to clean their land and prevent fires, they are a positive motivation” – and this is how João Gonçalves understands that saving the forest should be seen.
“It should be easier for a small owner to get money. It always goes through the area and that makes no sense. There should be a counter where the owner can go and where it is just as easy to get support as it is to to pay a fine.” not clean up the land.”
“Right now we have the resources [os apoios], but we are unable to make the action reach the ground. The small owner has to pay for the cleaning, he pays a fine if he doesn’t, but he gets no help and there should be an incentive. We will have the support of PEPAC, but the requirements are the same as PRD2020, i.e. we will continue to exclude them.”
Source: DN
