Portugal already has more than 7,000 hectares (ha) of area burned by wildfires in 2023, according to preliminary data from the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) released this Thursday.
ICNF data is recorded from January 1 to last Tuesday and shows that a total of 1971 rural fires burned 7366 hectares, including settlements (1826 hectares), shrubs (5454 hectares) and agriculture (86 hectares).
Comparing this year’s data with data from the last ten years, ICNF notes that more than 12% of rural fires and more than 48% of burnt areas were registered in relation to the annual average for this period.
“2023 through April 11 ranks 5th in number of fires and 5th in area of fires since 2013,” the report says.
In just 11 days in April, 43 hectares more burned than in the entire same month last year.
In April of this year, until last Tuesday, 1,208 hectares were burned, while in the same month – in 30 days – 1,165 hectares of burned areas were registered last year.
If April is excluded from the equation, then 6,158 hectares of burned areas were counted in the first three months of the year, which is 1,986 hectares less than confirmed in 2022 for the same period.
ICNF explains that 73% of all rural fires that have occurred so far in 2023 are small, with a fire area of less than 1 ha.
February is currently the month with the highest number of fires in rural areas, with a total of 1,025 fires, corresponding to 52% of the total recorded for the year.
February is also the month with the highest fire area, with a total of 5,200 ha burned, equivalent to 71% of the total fire area in 2023.
As for larger fires, the nature and forest policy authority has confirmed 13 fires with a fire area between 100 and 1,000 ha.
“Until April 11, 2023, there were 12 fires in this category, as a result of which 1,898 hectares burned out, which is about 26% of the total fire area,” he emphasizes.
Of the 1,971 rural fires that occurred this year, 1,264 were investigated and the process of investigating the causes was completed – 64% of the total number of fires, which account for 79% of the total fire area.
According to ICNF, the most common causes of fires in 2023 are the burning of pastures for cattle (30%) and the burning of forest or agricultural residues (28%).
“In aggregate, various types of burns and burns account for 79% of the total number of identified causes. Repeated fires account for 3% of the total number of established causes, ”he emphasizes.
Analyzing the areas, ICNF singled out Porto (319), Braga (314) and Viana do Castelo as the areas with the highest number of fires, indicating that “they are mostly small in size”, not exceeding 0.1 ha of burned area.
In relation to the district of Porto, the percentage of fires with a burnt area of less than 1 hectare is 87%.
In terms of fire area, the most affected area is Braga with 2,258 ha, about 31% of the total fire area, followed by Vila Real with 1,702 ha (23% of the total area) and Viana do Castelo with 1,361 ha (18%). of the total).
By studying meteorological severity, ICNF reached a total “weighted area burned” this year of 4,618 ha, translating “total area burned that would be obtained if all fires followed the historical average ‘behaviour’, taking into account the severity of meteorological conditions. day/place where they occurred.”
The actual burned area of 7,366 ha corresponds to 160% of the ‘weighted area burned’, which means that the area burned this year is ‘significantly higher than the ‘expected’ area burned, given the confirmed severe meteorological conditions”.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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