Agência para a Gestão Integrada de Fogos Rurais, I.P.
Data de publicação: 18/12/2017
Sumário:
Observations and Recommendations Concerning Portugal’s Wildfire Management System submitted by US Forest Service Wildfire Technical Team to the Government of Portugal via Embassy of the United States of America
Based on the severity and length of the 2017 wildfire season in Portugal, which resulted in the deadliest summer of blazes in modern history, the Government of Portugal (GoP) indicated it would accept assistance from the Government of the United States. Initial assistance, provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), was for $50,000 to support Portuguese humanitarian non-governmental organizations responding to the fires’ continuing effects. In addition, in December, the Embassy of the United States arranged for a three-person technical team of U.S. Forest Service wildfire experts (Team) to come to Portugal to observe the effects of the fires and to provide initial recommendations to the GoP on methods to improve fire management systems across the response, rehabilitation, and recovery spectrum.
This report draws upon discussions and observations by the Team with key leaders at several national level organizations. In Lisbon, the Team met with officials of the Office of the Prime Minister, the National Agency for Civil Protection (ANPC), and the National Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF-Portugal Forest Service). One Team member traveled to the Coimbra Region, one of the regions most affected by fires and the area where many fire deaths occurred, to meet with regional officials and observe the effects of the fires first hand. Two other Team members traveled to the Leiria National Forest to view the effects of mid-October 2017 fire on the forest.
Based on the severity and length of the 2017 wildfire season in Portugal, which resulted in the deadliest summer of blazes in modern history, the Government of Portugal (GoP) indicated it would accept assistance from the Government of the United States. Initial assistance, provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), was for $50,000 to support Portuguese humanitarian non-governmental organizations responding to the fires’ continuing effects. In addition, in December, the Embassy of the United States arranged for a three-person technical team of U.S. Forest Service wildfire experts (Team) to come to Portugal to observe the effects of the fires and to provide initial recommendations to the GoP on methods to improve fire management systems across the response, rehabilitation, and recovery spectrum.
This report draws upon discussions and observations by the Team with key leaders at several national level organizations. In Lisbon, the Team met with officials of the Office of the Prime Minister, the National Agency for Civil Protection (ANPC), and the National Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF-Portugal Forest Service). One Team member traveled to the Coimbra Region, one of the regions most affected by fires and the area where many fire deaths occurred, to meet with regional officials and observe the effects of the fires first hand. Two other Team members traveled to the Leiria National Forest to view the effects of mid-October 2017 fire on the forest.