The Algarve’s GNR are to be given powers to fine landowners who fail to keep their land clear of combustible material in measures being studied by the Minister of Agriculture, Assunçao Crestas, who said today that the legislation will be in place by the summer.
The minister said she is in talks with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to create a system of stiff fines administered by the GNR to arable land and forest owners who do not clear their land or combustible material.
The objective of this measure is to combat a growing inertia of owners and local authorities to maintain their land in a safe state in an effort to decrease the number of forest fires.
In the Algarve region there are areas, especially in the mountainous Monchique region, where weeds, scrub and grasses grow to a height of three meters, which when dry in the summer, represents a fire risk that endangers people and property.
Many landowners do not heed the repeated warnings issued by the civil protection authorities and most fires in the Algarve start in overgrown forested areas and are caused by the spread of flames from attempts at controlled burning.
Around 20% of Portugal’s land has no registered owners making it difficult to insist on the maintenance of these forgotten areas.
