“It was a good thing we reprogrammed the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). Now we are delivering brush cutters. Later, we will have tractors, bulldozers, tracked vehicles, and the respective transport of these machines, which the Intermunicipal Communities (CIM) will be responsible for maintaining and finding operators for. These last tenders are underway,” stated José Manuel Fernandes.

The minister was speaking at the hangar of the air resources center in Arcos de Valdevez, in the Viana do Castelo district, where the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) delivered 135 brushcutters to 27 teams of Forest Firefighters from the 10 municipalities of the district, in what is the first batch to be delivered as part of the re-equipping of the Forest Firefighters.

In the area of ​​prevention, the Minister of Agriculture and Sea also highlighted “the plan for extensive grazing, endowed with 30 million euros from the Environmental Fund to reduce combustible material and, simultaneously, place people in the territory, creating wealth”.

“All of this is encompassed in the Pact for the Forest, which has been approved. It is absolutely essential, for us to succeed, that all legislation relating to property is ready by 2026. The Assembly of the Republic will be fundamental to this objective and I hope for a broad consensus so that we can act,” he stated.

Another preventive aspect emphasized by José Manuel Fernandes concerns controlled burning.

The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries said that the government's objective is to "more than double" the area of ​​application of this technique, which in 2025 was approximately 2,500 hectares.

"We want to reach more than five thousand hectares," he reinforced, adding that in many places where controlled burning should have been done, but wasn't, there was enormous destruction. Controlled burning means using a technical means to protect and care for the area, to prevent fires from having so much combustible material that no one can control them. This will be a joint effort with the Intermunicipal Communities (CIMs)," he emphasized.

According to the minister, "there are many places where people know that the fire will spread if nothing is done, and many places where they know the fire can take hold."

"It is absolutely essential that this controlled burning planning work be done." "It is not only technically defensible, but, in environmental terms, it is a necessity and a requirement," he stressed.

In statements to journalists at the end of the ceremony, José Manuel Fernandes said that the Government "will do everything to value the work of forest firefighters, so that they have a fair and dignified income for an arduous job, which is not easy."

"When we came to power, there were debts to the firefighting teams that we settled. We increased the amount for each forest firefighting team, composed of five members, from 55 to 61 thousand euros. Everything we can do within the law, but also with the objective of valuing forest firefighters, we will do. The purchase of equipment is also a way to help make the work easier and less arduous. Training counts 100% as a public service. Before, it didn't." “These are steps we are taking that the forest firefighters deserve,” he said.

In addition to the 135 brushcutters delivered today to the forest firefighters of Alto Minho, a total of 2,060 brushcutters will be delivered, in an action financed by the PRR, representing an investment aimed at more than 400 teams of forest firefighters, contributing to the improvement and optimization of work machinery and to strengthening the operational capacity of these teams in forest fire prevention.