They warn that in the future we may experience an “apocalyptic scenario” and advocate for territorial change and strengthening agriculture and livestock.
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Aug. 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –
More than 5,000 professionals from the Canary Islands from the branches of forestry engineering, agricultural engineering, veterinary science, agriculture and livestock, gathered at Profor Canarias, warn in a manifesto that the archipelago “is a tinderbox” exposed to mega forest fires that can be unleashed simultaneously on several islands so he understands that “the worst is yet to come.”
Thus, they state that it is “a threat that approaches with each passing year and that calls for a new territorial model that takes care of biodiversity, it is not a question of more planes and helicopters, but of a more profound change.”
Along these lines, they indicate that the Canary Islands are the “perfect scenario” for more and more forest fires to develop, which in turn can “transform into megafires with unprecedented destructive power for people and infrastructure that could even break out simultaneously on several islands.”
This threat affects the majority of the islands, the manifesto states, some of them very densely populated such as Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma.
According to estimates by these experts, in Gran Canaria alone there are more than 40,000 people at potential risk within the officially declared High Fire Risk Zones.
Four years ago, the manifesto recalls, when the large fires in Gran Canaria occurred, experts already warned that that situation was going to be repeated and that conditions could be worse. “Unfortunately, time has proved us right,” they add.
On that occasion, August 2019 in Gran Canaria, the lives and homes of more than 9,000 people were directly threatened by a fire of 9,500 hectares and in the still ongoing fire in Tenerife, there have been more than 12,000 people whose homes were destroyed. They have been directly threatened by a fire that has burned almost 15,000 hectares.
Professionals insist that “the worst is yet to come if we do not act rigorously and quickly” because Canarian society has not yet faced the “worst possible scenario.”
In this sense, they point out that in the current Tenerife fire, the weather, “without being favorable, could have been even more complex, with stronger winds and faster spread.”
The fire consumed most of its 15,000 hectare perimeter in five or six days. However, the great Tenerife fire of 2007 consumed the same surface in just three days, pushed by an easterly wind of more than 70 km/h.
PLAUSIBLE APOCALYPTIC SCENARIO
On the other hand, they indicate that there could also have been the situation of suffering “multiple simultaneous fires”, within Tenerife, on other islands or even at the state level, which would have prevented having the enormous number of resources, aerial means and troops with the that has been reported contributed by other councils, the Government of the Canary Islands or the State from other provinces.
“This apocalyptic scenario cannot be ruled out at all, as the experiences of other countries such as the United States, Canada or Greece show, because our territorial model is causing a constant increase in vegetable fuel in the landscape and that, together with the climatic conditions, conditions in the Canary Islands, increased by climate change, generate the perfect cocktail for the development of large forest fires,” the manifesto states.
Experts suggest that to eliminate the possibility of these terrible scenarios multiplying and intensifying in the future, we must “get to the bottom of the problem,” which in their opinion involves changing the territorial model “because the threat is not going to dissipate because more means, more helicopters or more planes are added”.
In his opinion, “what is really needed is to have landscapes in which fires can be put out, adding that the landscape model that can be put out is the mosaic landscape.”
The manifesto states that it is about “building a landscape in which different land uses are interspersed and that, fundamentally, represents a new territorial model in which the accumulations of fuel available for burning are limited.”
AGRICULTURAL AND LIVESTOCK RECOVERY
In this model, the manifesto points out, agricultural uses and extensive livestock farming play a fundamental role, so it is “crucial” that medium-sized agriculture and extensive livestock farming be maintained and recovered.
“These are necessary activities to maintain a resilient landscape that allows preserving all of its functionality, including biodiversity. That is why we talk about building a regenerative mosaic landscape on the islands,” they point out.
Among the key measures to promote this recovery, the manifesto cites Payments for Environmental Services, that is, establishing contracts with agricultural, livestock or forestry operations in which they are paid an annual rent in exchange for keeping their land in production and adopt sustainable production practices that benefit biodiversity.
This measure is currently applied in Gran Canaria through the ‘Gran Canaria Pastorea Program’ and it is considered “essential” that it be promoted and expanded to agriculture and forestry activity generally in the archipelago, they point out.
STRATEGIC CONTINUITIES IN MORE NATURAL AREAS
Another substantial part of the model is the creation of strategic discontinuities in protected areas that, appropriately selected, contribute to preserving their biodiversity through silvicultural treatments, prescribed burning or even extensive grazing.
In this way, by acting in small areas, the impact of fire and its consequences for our fragile biodiversity can be significantly reduced.
The manifesto concludes by pointing out that, to remove the threat of forest fires in the Canary Islands, it is not enough to intersperse less flammable structures with agricultural use, but also to promote regenerative production models that contribute to the capacity of biodiversity to regenerate since ecosystems natural and semi-natural to adapt to future climate scenarios.
“Having nature and its natural wisdom in our favor is key,” the document states.
The manifesto, promoted by the Association of Foresters of Spain in the Canary Islands (PROFOR Canarias), has adhered to the Official College of Forest Technical Engineers and Graduates in Forest Engineering and the Natural Environment; the Official College of Forestry Engineers in the Canary Islands; the Professional Association of Forest Agents and Environmental Agents of the Canary Islands; the Official College of Degree and Agricultural Technical Engineering of Las Palmas; the College of Agricultural Technical Engineers of Santa Cruz de Tenerife; the Official College of Veterinarians of Las Palmas; the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers of the Canary Islands (COAG), the Agrarian Association of Young Farmers (ASAJA), with more than 200 members in the Canary Islands, SILVA, the Association for the Defense and Promotion of the Forestry Sector of the Canary Islands or LIGNA, the Association for the rational use of forest resources in the Canary Islands.
