The delegate for Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy, Manuel de la Torre, has signed agreements with the mayors of the municipalities of Serón and Alhama de Almería, accepting the transfer of ownership of land located in both municipalities in favour of the Autonomous Community. The acts were presided over by the delegate of the Regional Government of Andalusia in Almería, Aránzazu Martín.
The properties subject to the free transfer will be used for the necessary facilities for the prevention and extinction of forest fires to be carried out in the reform and expansion of the Forestry Defence Centres (CEDEFOs) of the aforementioned localities, and will be assigned to the Department of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy.
The Town Council of Serón, represented by its mayor, Manuel Martínez and the presence of the spokesperson of the opposition group (PP), Celia Granados, has thus formalised the free transfer of the land included in plots 175 and 176 of polygon 16 of its municipal district, where the new Forestry Defence Centre of Serón will be located.
Likewise, the Mayor of Alhama de Almería, Cristóbal Rodríguez, has signed the agreement by which the land corresponding to registered properties 11990 and 11991 are transferred to the Junta, by means of a demanial mutation, with the objective, as with the previous one, of using them for the exclusive purpose of locating a Forest Defence Centre (CEDEFO), that of Alhama de Almería, and to be used for the facilities necessary for the prevention and extinction of fires.
CEDEFOs
The Forest Defence Centres (CEDEFOs) are distributed throughout the Andalusian forest territory, constituting real work centres for the personnel involved in preventing and fighting forest fires.
In addition to being essential facilities for fighting forest fires, the CEDEFOs can be considered as forestry extension centres that play an important role in the prevention of forest fires by raising awareness and training of the different social sectors linked to the natural environment, facilitating the implementation of multiple preventive activities.
The network of these centres, located in areas of forest importance and close to communication routes, is made up of 23. Of these, 3 are in the province of Almería, in the municipalities of Alhama de Almería, Serón and Vélez Blanco.
The Government delegate, Aránzazu Martín, pointed out that the forthcoming extension and refurbishment work that the Regional Government of Andalusia is going to undertake at the forest defence centres in Alhama de Almería and Serón, “will enable us to comply with the technical operational safety criteria for restricted-use aerodromes and other air safety regulations, as well as extending and updating the facilities, all of which will benefit the well-being of our personnel and improve the system”. Martín also highlighted how this year the Regional Government of Andalusia is going to allocate more resources to forest fire prevention than to extinguishing forest fires, with a budgeted investment of 223 million euros for the INFOCA Plan.
