Last Monday marked seven years since the Las Peñuelas fire, which in 2017 devastated more than 8,400 hectares in the western surroundings of the Doñana Natural Space. Today, nature makes its way again. “There has been quite a good natural regeneration, and look, we have been through years of drought”says Juan Ramón Pérez, general director of Forest Policy and Biodiversity of the Government of Andalusia.
The Andalusian Government announced this week that The restoration of the land affected by the fire will be completed this year. In total, almost 8 million euros have been invested in different types of measures. “A wide variety of works have been carried out from the beginning, such as the removal of burned trees, tasks to control pests, actions aimed at stopping erosion processes water by creating embankments made of stone or wood remains in small streams and fascines on the slopes, Reforestation and tree planting and bushes,” Pérez specifies.
According to the Ministry of Sustainability, most of the land affected by the fire is publicly owned and had a “high and very high” degree of impact, which has implied “effects with long recovery periods”.
The Andalusian Government has promoted three restoration projects since 2017 on the land affected by the fire, after the first emergency works. / BOARD OF ANDALUSIA
In this regard, environmentalists have highlighted on this occasion the “good steps” that have been taken in the restoration, despite the fact that the rain and high temperatures have not helped: “It was not easy, but I think that in perspective it can be said that a good job has been done. And although it is not finished yet, it is on its way,” says Juanjo Carmona of WWF.
Tackling “sixth generation” fires
However, Carmona believes that there are still pending tasks that could help to deal with the “sixth generation” fires that have been recorded in recent summers: “Huelva It is a province very vulnerable to fire and Doñana, especially. “You have to think about what were some of the recommendations that were made that have not been carried out.”
Among them, the WWF spokesperson has cited a vulnerability analysis that focused on the new conditions and scenarios created by climate change in Doñana, more resilient restorations or make a Fire risk analysis in the high-risk area of Condado-litoral“.
“Negligence due to carelessness”
The fire was extinguished on July 4, 2017, thanks to the action of more than 700 troops, between forest firefighters from the Infoca Plan, environmental agents, the Forest Fire Investigation Brigade and the Military Emergency Unit. Two months later, the brigade pointed out in a report that the cause of the fire was a “negligence due to carelessness” of a coal factory in the area. It forced the eviction of some 2,500 people.
The brigade pointed out in a report that the cause of the fire was “neglect due to carelessness” on the part of a coal factory in the area.
This large forest fire began on the night of June 24, 2017. Among the factors for its spread are the The temperature was 42 degrees and the wind speed was more than 90 kilometers per hour. and traveled through the municipalities of Moguer, Almonte, Lucena del Puerto and Palos de la Frontera, affecting the protected areas of the Doñana Natural Park and the Laguna de Palos and Las Madres Natural Park.
Image from EFE Television of the fire that broke out in June 2017 in the Las Peñuelas area of Moguer (Huelva). / EFE
Three people under investigation at the Moguer coal mine
Seven years later, the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) announced on June 6 that the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 2 of Moguer had issued an order to continue with the preliminary proceedings against three people investigated for the fire, linked to the coal company.
Therefore, at the judicial level, the case continues its course with three investigated under scrutiny, two workers and a director of the coal mine, which had several unlicensed ovens that were left unattended despite the strong winds that were blowing at the time.
The Moguer coal mine had several unlicensed ovens and unsupervised assets despite the strong wind that was blowing that night.
Seven years of emergency works and several restoration projects
The second phase of restoration of the projects approved for the regeneration of the area affected by the Las Peñuelas fire began in February 2022 and is currently underway. 60% of its execution.
In this case, work is being carried out on 1,760 hectares, continuing with the tasks included in the fire restoration plan: removal of burnt wood, excess fuel accumulation and removal of exotic forest species.
“Once it is finished, our work will not end here. There will be periodic monitoring and controls of the actions that have been carried out. Action will continue“specifies the general director of Forestry Policy, Juan Ramón Pérez.
Once the work is completed, our work will not end here. There will be regular monitoring and controls of the work that has been carried out. We will continue to act
According to the data provided by the Ministry, this second phase represents the third project, since the first emergency works, started on July 10, 2017. At that time, as Pérez explains, security work began. “We acted in the most affected municipal areas, those of Moguer, Almonte and Lucena del Puerto due to the imminent risk that the presence of charred trees, at risk of falling or the most affected infrastructures“, says Perez.
Those days too The technical scientific working group linked to the recovery of these lands was createdwith the appointment of its members for advice and formulation of proposals.
“Forest time bomb”
The coordinator of the WWF Technical Office in Doñana, Juanjo Carmona, has taken advantage of this anniversary to sound the alarm about the risk of new forest fires in the area surrounding the Doñana Natural Area: “Many of Doñana’s mountains are forest time bombs ready to explode.”
Fires are not extinguished with water but with forest management and territorial planning
“Measures must be adopted that go beyond putting out fires, such as promote landscape diversification, creating what are called firebreak landscapes“, he specified.
According to Carmona, “Fires are not put out with water but with forest management and territorial planning,” He added: “We have to take preventive measures and work throughout the year to reduce the devastating, uncontrollable nature of the fires.”
2024-06-28 08:22:38
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