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 Fires menace NatureKeywords
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Fires menace Nature
Article The problem of forest fires and how to act to fight them...
Forest fires: menace persists in Beira InteriorWildfires have become a real threat and to prevent further disasters the European Union is already taking the field. During the summer of 2004, the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe, over 40ºC in some countries, led to devastating forest fires, which cost many lives and left hundreds of thousands of hectares scorched in Portugal, also raging France, Spain, Greece and Italy. The state of calamity was declared by the Portuguese government, as 18 people lost their lives and 400,000 hectares of land ablazed, including over 300,000 hectares of forest (more than the double size of the country of Luxembourg).
As a matter of fact, in Portugal, these true facts have also led to desperate situations during the last 15 years. For example, in the Council of Proença-a-Nova there was a decrease in the number of timber industries: from 12 to only 2. The alert was given by the Chairman of the Association of Forest Producers from that Council, Marcolino Nel, during the last day of the Forest Fires Congress, which took place . He said that closing down those companies is connected with the many forest fires that destroyed the pine forest. The role of the EU The EU has played a major role in dealing with this natural disaster, in terms of predicting fires, as well as coordinating the response of the emergency services and offering finalcial support. The European Commission Response Centre, which belongs to the Environment General Directorate, helped to coordinate the response to these kind of disasters. At this Centre a network of 29 countries, which make up the EU system of civil protection, could be drawn. The 15 Member States, the ten coutries due to join in 2004 and other members of the European Economic Area were also included. Last year, Spain, Greece and Germany provided assistance to France and Portugal by means of aircraft and helicopter support. The Centre demonstrated ist capacity to react quickly and efficiently. Moreover, the Comission has developed a coherent forest information system for Europe, called the European Forest Fires Information Servide (EFFIS), which aims to evaluate the long and short-term risks of forest fires. Local solutions According to the "Diário de Noticias" (19th April 2005), the Cotec has come up with many solutions to help fighting forest fires, which are expected to be used this summer. The project is being coordinated by Pedro Moura (one of the admistrators of Portucel Soporcel) and involves a new national network of forest surveillance stations, as well as it stands for the creation of forest sapper brigades, transported by helicopter and directed by one single command. Besides, Marcolino Nel claims further studies should be carried out, as regards, for instance, new tools and the good usage of woods. He also stands for the need of taking some measures that would contribute for the cleaning up and protection of the forests. These studies should define the advantages that might result from the building "on the peaks of the mountains of tanks with a capacity of 50 to 60 thousand litres and with a canalisation system included, which could be filled in during the winter and then used in case of fires", he said. Nature is worth a fortune for Mankind. However, this treasure is being menaced by the many forest fires that have been destroying huge areas of forest all over the globe during the last couple of years. One must forget that wildfires bring destruction and suffering wherever they occur, destroying every resource and human dream. Article written by: Filipe Martins, Francisco Feliciano, Gonçalo Freitas, José Brito José Gomes Ferreira Secondary School, Lisbon, Portugal, Class 10.2 |
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