Oviedo, Apr 28 (EFE).- The Government of the Principality has agreed this Friday to request the Council of Ministers to declare the community as an area seriously affected by a civil protection emergency -what was previously called a catastrophic area-, in order to access to different aid lines after suffering a total of 278 forest fires between March 29 and April 9, which devastated 32,000 hectares.
The fires affected 51 councils and burned 12,000 wooded hectares, 18,000 bushes, 500 grasslands and 1,500 devoted to other uses.
In its request, the Principality, which has not finished making the economic valuation, argues that the fires caused considerable damage to wooded masses of natural regeneration and reforestation, both on public utility land and on neighboring forests in common hands and private.
It also stresses that the fire also devastated areas of scrub, grassland and crops, so that it caused serious losses in pastures, wood, reserves and hunting grounds, in the chestnut and mushroom harvest, and in livestock and honey production.
Added to all of this are incidents in infrastructure, equipment, facilities and services, as there were road cuts, landslides, downed power and telecommunications lines and interruptions in the water supply, among other problems.
Aid for reforestation
In parallel, the Principality continues with another series of measures such as aid for reforestation to companies and individuals that the Governing Council has approved today with a loan of 4 million, expandable up to 5.5.
In a forthcoming meeting, the Executive will also give the green light to the subsidies provided for the town halls, with a game of 700,000 euros expandable to one million.
Both lines of aid, co-financed through the European Agrarian Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), will promote reforestation with hardwoods and pines and management work in private and municipal forests, in addition to supporting the preparation of management plans for neighboring forests.
Restoration of plots
As the Asturian Executive has advanced, the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Territorial Cohesion will publish a resolution next week that will make it possible to restore the burned plots through immediate reforestation.
The works can be carried out this year within the cycles established for planting and the land and activity will recover as soon as possible.
As the Asturian Government recalls, a provision has been published this week to expedite the processing of cutting permits to clean up land and prevent pests.
Organization of public services and personnel
The Principality has highlighted that the Ministry of the Presidency is working to reinforce the four Forest Fire Investigation Brigades (Bripas) that operate in Asturias so that these teams, now made up of an investigative firefighter and two forest agents, become be made up of three researchers.
The Public Employment Law, which came into force last Monday, provides for the creation of the scale of investigator of causes of forest fires, so that all the people who make up the Bripas are considered agents of the authority.
In addition, Rural Affairs is also advancing in the creation of the future Corps of Environmental Agents, after the Public Employment Law enables the constitution of a contingent that will be considered special administrative and judicial police, which will form a body with full capacity to custody of the territory with the status of agents of authority.
damage assessment
The Principality has highlighted the work it is carrying out in coordination with the Federation of Councils (FACC) and the affected municipalities to complete, in the coming days, the damage assessment, both in public and private infrastructures and facilities.
The Asturian Government will enable aid to municipalities and owners for property losses and other damages through direct subsidies that will be processed urgently, once the effects of the fire have been determined.
Compensation will also be implemented to deal with forest losses that will range between 500 and 1,200 euros per hectare.
Regarding prevention initiatives, the Principality recalls that up to now 2.4 million have already been made available to city councils and local entities and in May the new fund included in this year’s budgets will be activated, totaling 4.5 million .
Change in regulation
The Government of the Principality has recalled that it also foresees changes in the current regulation, which will affect the surveillance, prevention and extinction of fires.
A technical committee that will be set up soon from the Forestry Council will prepare the reform of the Forestry Law, which will be renamed the Forestry and Forest Fire Prevention Law, with the aim of making it the first regulation approved by the Asturian Parliament in the next legislature.
Among other measures, the Principality is also finalizing a new fire prevention resolution that will pay special attention to land close to populations and plans to adapt the Forest Plan and promote self-protection policies for towns with measures such as reinforcing extinction infrastructures, the formation of neighbors and the coordination of devices. EFE