Prevention is the key factor in the battle against fires in the mountains. This is one of the main conclusions of the I Forest Days of Tenerife, which began yesterday and will run for three days at the Higher Polytechnic School of Engineering of the University of La Laguna (ULL). Over 200 people are participating in the event, featuring presentations and talks by around thirty experts and technicians. They agree on the diagnosis, as highlighted in the opening event, which had as its backdrop the large fire on the island last summer.
Under the slogan Our mountains after the great fire of 2023, the forum, which ends tomorrow, featured in the opening day the presence of the president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila; the Councillor for Natural Environment, Sustainability and Emergencies, Blanca Pérez; the forest engineer and deputy director of the Section of Agricultural Engineering at the University of La Laguna, Juan Carlos Santamarta; and the head of the technical service of Forest Management of the Cabildo, Pedro Tito Martínez.
Rosa Dávila thanked all the staff of the Cabildo for their work, especially in the area of Natural Environment, during the fire last summer and explained that the conference arises “from the events of August 2023, which involved weeks of complex and difficult decisions.” She recalled that “the flames spread uncontrollably, devouring natural spaces, spreading through 12 municipalities and endangering thousands of people.” She emphasized that “all that experience is necessary to share to improve and learn, in addition to the work being done to restore the mountains or the mid-range plans that we will implement to work in the interface area, where we have had the most problems in recent years.”
“From the Cabildo, we want to bring the population closer to the inherent problems of forest management, spreading the importance of fire prevention and the self-protection measures that we must implement as a society,” explains Dávila. In addition to “explaining how emergency management works and what are the most important impacts, emphasizing restoration measures.”
Blanca Pérez stated that “it is about disseminating the work we do so that the public knows the work of the department and learns to value and care for the territory. What is not known is not cared for.”.
Juan Carlos Santamarta highlighted the work being done at ULL to train future professionals and managers of the territory.
Pedro Martínez stated that the conference involves the participation “of professionals who will share their impressions, studies, and experiences to improve in fire prevention, firefighting management, or to talk to us about how natural masses are restored.” He also highlighted the space to reflect other works that arise from social initiatives or views on this matter from other social agents, business initiatives, environmental organizations, and foundations.”
The Forest Days of Tenerife focus on blocks revolving around the current issues of forest fires: prevention management, emergency management and restoration; the future of this management, and the social impact of fires. There will be presentations on the history of Tenerife’s mountains, prevention efforts, and strategies implemented during firefighting.
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The Days include an outing to observe the restoration work carried out in the mountains and a block of social participation for which various associations involved in the efforts have been invited. An exhibition of the conclusions obtained in the technical tables, worked throughout May, will conclude the event. They will focus on forest communication and dissemination during emergencies and fire prevention management.
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