The Andalusian Regional Government’s Department of Sustainability and Environment is implementing an ambitious forest fire prevention plan in the public forests of the province of Almería. With an investment of €2.85 million through next summer, maintenance and improvement work is being carried out on fire protection infrastructure, essential for reducing fuel loads and disrupting their continuity in strategic areas of the forests.
The territorial delegate for Sustainability and the Environment in Almería, Manuel de la Torre, highlighted the importance of these actions: «The rains, which are giving so much relief to our forests, must not make us forget that summer is just around the corner, and with it the fires typical of our Mediterranean climate and ecosystem will return.»
The Andalusian Regional Government has increased the budget for the INFOCA Plan by 54% compared to 2018, currently allocating more resources to forest fire prevention than to extinguishing fires. «Increasing prevention measures allows us to confront fires with greater guarantees of success: better safety conditions for the extinguishing team and the rural population, and less environmental damage,» the delegate added.
The ongoing work will involve a total of 881 hectares of forest, distributed across 615 hectares of firebreak areas and another 266 hectares in auxiliary strips located along 44 kilometers of forest roads. Furthermore, firebreak maintenance is being carried out as part of another three-year project, which, with a budget of one million euros, has covered more than 2,000 hectares in the province.
José Antonio de Simón, a forestry engineer from the Environment and Water Agency (AMAYA), explained what these infrastructures consist of and their key role in fighting fires: «Firebreaks are vegetation-free surfaces that create horizontal discontinuities in the forest, hindering the spread of fire and providing safety zones for firefighting teams. They are the classic concept of firebreaks that we all have in mind.»
Along with these, two other complementary strategies are being developed. «Auxiliary strips are strips along the edges of forest roads where the amount of vegetation is reduced without completely eliminating it, thereby preventing the start of fires and slowing their spread. Firebreaks, on the other hand, are spaces with a lower fuel load, which helps reduce the intensity of fires and facilitates the work of extinguishing teams,» explained De Simón, director of the work carried out by the Ministry of Sustainability in our province.
Techniques and means used in preventive work
Forest fire prevention work requires the use of various techniques and tools adapted to the terrain. For the opening and maintenance of fire protection infrastructure, workers perform tasks such as clearing, felling and pruning trees, and removing plant debris. This work is carried out using both hand tools, such as chainsaws and brush cutters, and heavy machinery, including tractors and chain or hammer brush cutters.
The regional delegate also emphasized the need to promote the recovery of traditional practices that have historically been part of the forest landscape, particularly extensive grazing: “The abandonment of rural areas in recent decades has led to an increase in the fuel load on forests. This, combined with higher temperatures and less frequent and erratic rainfall, means that forest fires are increasingly spreading at high intensities, leaving them beyond the capacity to extinguish them. We must be aware of the challenge we face.”
The adaptation of the Andalusian Forestry Plan, approved at the end of 2023, and the future Andalusian Forestry Law reinforce the Andalusian Government’s commitment to sustainable forest management and the preservation of natural heritage. «We will continue to dedicate resources to fire prevention and promoting the sustainable use of forests to ensure the persistence of our forest ecosystems and the countless benefits they offer to society,» concluded Manuel de la Torre.