United Nations recognizes Portugal as an example in rural fire management

O president of AGIF, Tiago Oliveiraparticipated this Monday, May 6th, in an event integrated into the 19th United Nations Forum for Forestsin New York, supporting a more robust framework capable of dealing with the complexity and uncertainty of rural fires, making it necessary to create an international mechanism within the UN to promote the implementation of a global integrated fire management program and facilitate financing integrated fire management actions around the world.

In his intervention, Tiago Oliveira addressed the main points of the International Rural Fire Governance Reference Framework, which was discussed and approved at the 8th International Conference on Rural Fires, held in the city of Porto, in May 2023.

Institutional articulation, integrating practices and knowledge, along with international cooperation, is one of the key points defended by AGIF, as well as the importance of recognizing that rural fires require specialization in the intervention of all agents, with a much broader focus than just eliminating fires, investing heavily in prevention and working with local communities.

The complexity of fires and a growing number of stakeholders with different views and solutions require that the simple separation of prevention and response gives way to a more robust framework capable of dealing with uncertainty. It is this message that AGIF takes to New York, to the headquarters of the United Nations, calling for joint work, breaking down the traditional silos of organizations and promoting a clear, shared and unifying objective: reducing vulnerability to rural fires and protecting people, as well as their traditions, in a forum that unites very diverse cultures and experiences from around the world.

Furthermore, integrated fire management helps to strengthen interoperability and therefore the effectiveness and efficiency of the international response to rural fire emergencies.

Already supported by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations, countries are challenged, in the intervention made by AGIF, to use the reference framework to prepare to reduce losses caused by fire. This approach needs to be seen as a fire governance model, bringing together governments, businesses, academia and civil society, with the aim of developing balanced approaches to fire prevention.

It is worth remembering that, after the fires that occurred in 2017, the panorama of rural fires in Portugal underwent a notable change, allowing for greater preservation of assets, natural heritage and especially lives.

In 2023, total investment in prevention and combat doubled compared to 2017, also being the year with the greatest effort ever (around 500 million euros), recording for the first time zero fatalities among civilians and operational personnel in fires or in burning and burning.

Last year, 7,523 rural fires were recorded, which represents a 46% decrease compared to the average of the previous ten years (2013-2022). The burned area totaled 34,509 hectares, which reveals a 72% decrease compared to the average of the previous ten years. After four years of implementation of the National Integrated Rural Fire Management Plan (PNGIFR), the ignition rate on high fire risk days was reduced by 59%, compared to the average of the 10 years prior to the PNGIFR (2010-2019) .

The priority to give to prevention, the ability to define courageous public policies, decision-making informed by technical and scientific knowledge and the strengthening of coordination between institutions and the community, were, in summary, key points identified for better protection against increasingly severe rural fires.