Every year, fires erupt from North to South of the country, mostly by criminal hands and aggravated by climatic and geo conditions, lack of means and better strategies, associated with poor planning and prevention, that should go beyond cleaning the land.
The large monocultures of Eucalyptus and Pines that spread throughout
the country are highly flammable and have contributed to the increasing
proportion of fires. We emphasize, however, that we do not regard
Eucalyptus or Pines as the problems, but rather the way in which they are
produced, revealing a lack of knowledge about how to balance ecosystems,
as well as the insufficient regulation and supervision of the timber and cellulose sectors.
We consider it extremely necessary to plant native and traditional
native trees such as Amieiro, Azinheira, Carvalhos (Quercus), Castanheiro,
Cerejeira Brava (Wild Cherries), European Ash, Loureiro, Medronheiro, Oliveira Brava,
Pinheiro Bravo, Sobreiro and others, that for thousands of years have
developed and adapted to the Portuguese soil and climate, being proven
more resistant to the fires.
There is an overall tendency to reduce the green areas of forests that have
disappeared to give way to pastures or to large monocultures, which make use of a large amount of pollutants for plants, soils, rivers, seas, groundwater, air and for all living beings, including humans. This situation, combined with the excessive production of waste as well as the exploitation and burning of fossil fuels that releases an excessive amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, has led to
environmental degradation and global warming, which places our species,and all others we depend on, at risk.
Forests are the great supporters of the water cycle and the houses of
biodiversity, source of all medicines and the main food generators. When
they disappear, the climate and rains change, we lose genetic wealth and
generate resource scarcity. It is alarming that 58% of the Portuguese territory is already considered desert.
The fact that there are no more native forests destabilizes the hydrological
cycle, which reduces the amount of rainfall and causes prolonged drought
patterns, leading to water rationing. Erosion processes and soil leaching
are also consequences that contribute to the low absorption and low
retention of water, leading to a decrease in agricultural productivity,
which (besides other issues) leads to the abandonment of rural
environments and leads to more intense fires,causes a decrease in food production, which affects the country's food sovereignty,economy,culture,health and well-being of its people.
Associated with all this degenerative pattern, agriculture in our country
has become incipient and toxic, leaving us in a delicate situation, both by
the constant importation of goods (external dependence) and by the
correlation of agrochemicals with various diseases.
There is a clear association, supported by scientific data, between healthy
eating and health. Health is a concept that goes beyond the simple well-
being of the body and as such we must consider the physical, psychic,
emotional, spiritual, socio-cultural and environmental impacts that exist
behind the practices of exploration of land.Therefore, access to clean
water, non-chemical and organic food, fresh air and contact with
nature, as well as jointly contributing to health maintenance and disease
prevention, will also save taxpayers money.
It is necessary to make an effort on various sectors of society to respond to these questions which are transversal to all and concern present and future generations. Incentive measures for the repopulation of rural areas, associated with the teaching and promotion of new forest and agricultural production practices (Agroforestry Systems),which are regenerative, sustainable, fair, ethical, responsible and
economically viable, are fundamental to begin to solve this apparent
inevitability of abandonment and disconnection with the Earth that has
caused so much suffering.
The world is now facing, on a large scale, what we face locally and many are those who have sought out the ways out of the probable scenario of extinction of our species, mainly due to this
disastrous management of natural resources.Whether it is in energy
production, how we work the land or how we relate to each
other, the new solutions presented at a global level have been based on
approaches that are more environmentally friendly and more respectful of
all living beings,come with a message of greater collaboration and
communication between countries, sectors and individuals. We reinforce
Agroforestry Systems (Syntropyc Ag, Regen Ag, FoodForests), Permaculture (Human integration & interaction with landscape, close waste cycles, EarthWorks, KeyLines, water treatment, natural materials,etc)as the main tools to halt and reverse this involutive and degenerative spiral in which we find ourselves, both at the environmental, human, spiritual, social and economic levels.