The Government of the Generalitat, through the coordination of various departments, launches a new forest management and fire prevention strategy, with the objective of protecting the territory, the population, and conserving the natural environment. The plan foresees the creation of 14 confinement axes aimed at slowing the expansion of large fires.
The initiative is presented this Monday in Montserrat (Barcelona) by the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlón, and the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Òscar Ordeig, representing two of the departments that have participated in the preparation of the document.
The strategy, configured as a Government Agreement, is expected to be approved in this Tuesday's Executive Council and contemplates an initial increase in the budget that the Generalitat allocates to this area of at least 36.8 million euros annually, distributed in different actions and tools.
According to sources from the Govern, the plan responds to the advancement of climate change, which has extended the months with fire risk, and also to the evolution of forest cover in Catalunya, which already covers 65% of the territory, as well as the abandonment of agricultural and livestock uses of the land. All of this has led to a situation of "fragility" in the face of fire episodes.
Prevention and adaptation
The new strategy is structured around four main axes, placing forest prevention and adaptation to climate change at its core. Among the planned measures are the development of 25-meter protection strips around urban areas and the promotion of fire prevention plans in all municipalities, in addition to the planning of priority protection perimeters, that is, those forest masses with the highest risk of fire.
In relation to the protection belts, the Government has multiplied the aid allocated to city councils for prevention and protection actions, which go from 1.5 million to 15 million euros annually. Regarding the priority protection perimeters, work will be done on drafting specific plans for each of the 34 risk areas identified in Catalonia.
Confinement axes
The plan also foresees the creation of 14 confinement axes distributed throughout Catalan territory, conceived to curb the spread of large fires. These corridors will cover approximately 128,000 hectares and will involve direct actions on 34,194 hectares in order to configure landscapes that hinder the advance of fire between forest massifs.
The same sources explain that this measure responds to the increase in fires that exceed the extinction capacity due to their magnitude and intensity, which have gone from representing 0.2% in 2003 to 11% in 2023.
The interventions to configure these axes will be based on a "mosaic" of areas with different types of landscape that, from the point of view of available fuel, prevent the continuity of the fire. This will involve the tendering of works in the affected areas and forestry work that has already begun on public land and will also extend to private properties.
Planning and development
Another of the pillars of the strategy is planning and governance, which seeks to order the administration's resources both in the management of private forests, through the Centre de la Propietat Forestal, and in public-owned forests, through territorial services.
The plan also promotes rural and territorial development, with the creation of a "one-stop shop" for extensive livestock farmers, which simplifies access to aid and programs managed by the different administrations.
In this line, the strategy foresees reinforcing the modernization and professionalization of the forestry sector, as well as the valorization of products derived from the forest, such as wood.
General Forest Plan
The new strategy is integrated into the General Plan for Forest Policy of Catalonia, currently in process and whose definitive approval the Government places for next year. This plan will mark the framework for the executive's action in forest management in Catalonia.
It has been designed as an adaptive strategy, to respond to a changing context; preventive, with the intention of avoiding more serious problems in the future; active, with measures planned throughout the year, and planned in short, medium, and long-term horizons.
Interdepartmental work
The document arises from an "interdepartmental coordination" between various departments, including Agriculture, Interior, Territory, Economy, and Presidency, and has had the participation of the Generalitat Firefighters corps in defining the actions.
The planned measures will require the involvement of the departments, local administrations, the forestry sector, and other territorial agents, and will be deployed in parallel with other strategies, such as the energy transition, with the aim of "sharing synergies".