“We have two initiatives that were approved yesterday [Thursday, in the Regional Government Council] and this first one, which is the most relevant, has to do with the creation of an exceptional measure that will allow public entities to present territorial intervention projects in areas identified as priorities for fire containment,” said the Secretary of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment.
Rafaela Fernandes spoke at a press conference in Funchal, where she presented the “post-fire assessment” in the areas under her department’s jurisdiction, namely agriculture, livestock, environment, and water, and explained the “future action strategy.”
The fire that raged between August 14 and 26 affected a total of 192 farmers, with notified damage declarations, of which 102 were in the Serra de Água parish, 23 in the Ribeira Brava parish (Ribeira Brava municipality), 48 in Curral das Freiras, and 19 in Jardim da Serra (Câmara de Lobos municipality).
Among the support measures already adopted by the Regional Government are food for the beekeeping sector, free supply of cereal and forage seeds, technical assistance in the replanting process, supply of fruit trees, recovery of burned barns, and assistance for recovering burned pipes.
Regarding the livestock sector, the Regional Secretariat identified 41 affected producers, with 266 cattle, 30 sheep, and 77 goats in need of food and veterinary support. There are also records of 24 goats and one cow dying.
According to the data released today, the burned area was 5,116 hectares, of which only 0.9% (139 hectares) correspond to Laurissilva forest, which is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site and occupies a total of 15,000 hectares. Of the 5,116 hectares of burned area, 32% were classified as scrubland, 16% were occupied by carqueja and broom, and 9.3% by eucalyptus.
The Regional Secretariat indicated that the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation (IFCN) has nurseries with about 200,000 plants, of which 88% are indigenous and endemic species, which will be used later in the recovery of affected areas.
According to IFCN data, the fire did not reach the nests of the Zino’s Petrel, an endangered seabird that nests in the mountains between Pico do Areeiro and Pico Ruivo.
On the other hand, excessive water consumption in the parishes of Serra de Água, Ribeira Brava, Jardim da Serra, and Curral das Freiras, the most affected by the fire, will not be charged, with the company Águas e Resíduos da Madeira issuing bills based on previous averages.
The Secretary of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment clarified that only 14% of the total burned area is under public management, with the remaining 86% being private property, much of it without an identified owner. This circumstance justifies the regional legislative decree project approved by the Regional Government Council for the creation of Integrated Territorial Intervention Projects (PIIT).
“The diploma […] has to do with property identification and intervention on privately owned land […], which, out of respect for the constitutionally protected property right, implies having a legal framework for intervention,” explained Rafaela Fernandes.
The objective is to move forward with the creation of firebreaks, clearings, and crop conversion, with public funding, but in charge of local entities, such as municipalities and associations.
“Naturally, this is an invitation for municipal councils to be able to resolve, within their management areas, small areas that are fundamentally important for civil protection and also for private entities that want to get involved,” she explained.
Among other ongoing legislation that will be debated soon in the regional parliament, the government official highlighted the diploma that adapts to the region the 2023 decree-law on the legal regime of land registry, as well as the regional decree project that creates the procedure for identifying and recognizing rural or mixed properties without a known owner.
The rural fire on Madeira Island broke out on August 14 in the mountains of the Ribeira Brava municipality, progressively spreading to the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol, and Santana. On Monday, after 13 days,
