The fear of fires, increasingly virulent and close, and the feeling of vulnerability, have prompted eight families who own farms in Villanueva de la Vera and Valverde de la Vera (Cáceres) to create the Albura association for self-protection against forest fires. They have prepared their farms ―some 40 hectares in total― they have been trained in the management of fire-fighting means and they have managed to get the Junta de Extremadura to approve a technical document on forest fire prevention prepared by them. They consider that this way of acting “marks the difference between doing and doing nothing”. “You learn to know how to behave before a fire without pretending to become a firefighter; If smoke is detected, the first thing to do is call 112 ″ Emergencies, they say. A concern that extends to other forest areas in Spain and that encourages residents to take similar protection measures.
The perception of the danger of fire that they faced living in this place in the middle of the countryside and brimming with nature has been changing. Twenty years ago, when Álvaro Gil-Nagel, a member of Albura, bought a plot of land in the Jardines Riolobos, his fear of fire “was testimonial.” Now “the threat is real and obvious,” says this man from Madrid who spends long periods of time there. Last summer “it was terrifying, there were fires a kilometer away, several of us had to leave our houses, and that’s when we realized that we had to minimize the risk,” Juan Carlos Montoro explained this Tuesday at the presentation of the WWF annual fire report. This is how Albura was born, barely a year ago, to protect an environment classified as IV potential risk, the maximum established by the Government of Extremadura. WWF considers that these actions are essential to convert landscapes that are now “tinkers” into “non-flammable”.
The farms of oak, pine and scrub are accessed by a dirt road, full of potholes: your only evacuation route in case of fire. Despite the boats, they are proud “because before it was much worse, the cars hit the branches of the trees as it was much narrower,” says Gil-Nagel. The track arrangement is one of the improvements they have achieved by partnering. “We pay more attention when we all go than when we did it individually,” they say. Now there are areas where two cars can fit and there are sidings to avoid getting stuck, especially in times of panic, and that firefighters can enter.
On the land of René Müller, a German who bought the farm 20 years ago, the actions that the association has launched can be observed. Müller is dedicated to wind energy and teleworking allows him and his wife to reside in Villanueva de la Vera and they want to protect his little paradise. The environment has been cleared, following the instructions of a forestry engineer, and they have two tanks to extract water. Neighbors have also learned to use fire extinguishers, “because what we used to do was raise the flames, we are urban people who have come to the countryside,” they confess.
Starting the association with the drafting of the technical plan has meant 1,000 euros between the eight families. Then, each farm has to take care of the maintenance expenses for prevention and self-protection: brushcutter, chainsaw, fire extinguisher, backpacks for fire extinguishers, fireproof materials, among others, which represent an outlay of about 1,500 euros. One option is to have help animals. Jaime Vázquez, a 33-year-old from Madrid, who moved to the area a year ago with his family, leaving the world of startups behind, has bought a couple of donkeys, which help clear brush. He considers himself “self-sustaining and self-sufficient” on a farm where there are orchards, fig trees, chestnut trees and fruit trees.
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A disastrous year in fires
WWF chose this location to provide the latest data on fires. There is no good news: 2022 was one of the most disastrous in memory with 310,000 hectares burned, a figure that is three times more than the annual average of the last two decades. As of June 18, 2023, 14 large forest fires (in which 500 hectares or more burn) had occurred in Spain, 80% with dramatic consequences: with four deaths, 90 injuries and more than 30,000 people evacuated preventively.
To solve it, it is not enough to put all efforts into extinction, says the NGO. Spain has one of the best fire-fighting systems in the world, which has managed to put out seven out of 10 incidents in the conatus phase in the last decade. But those who escape are transformed into uncontrollable monsters, an evil that spreads across the world. The only viable alternative is to achieve living, resistant and resilient landscapes.
That is the intention of Albura, which is receiving numerous requests for membership. But they suggest that the best model would be to create more associations of this type and collaborate, so that they do not become ungovernable. In their case, they have the advice of José Antonio Cuadrado, who has worked in different emergency bodies, reproaches the Administration that his decisions are very far from the territory. For example, property owners face many obstacles when it comes to removing a tree or other actions of this type. “They make you feel like an environmental terrorist,” he says.
With 26 million hectares of forest in Spain, the public administration must increase its efforts, warn WWF. The organization asks the Administration for a state strategy for the comprehensive prevention of forest fires, with social prevention and land management in the foreground. It also demands that the law for sustainable development of rural areas be reactivated, which would allow the generation of decent employment and ensure the quality of life in rural areas. Measures that must be accompanied by a reorientation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the approval of a state strategy for extensive livestock farming. The municipalities and the population must prepare self-protection plans to be applied in the connection area between the urban center and the forest area.
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