“After the environmental catastrophe” summer in Serra da Estrela, in which at least 25 thousand hectares burned in successive fires over several weeks, for Rewilding it is essential to bring together all similar parts in the territory and national level for the construction of a Park natural and realistic for the recovery of the environmental proposal of Serra da Estrela (PNSE).

The fires and an unprecedented long-term severity had severe impacts on this mountain ecosystem, or that were a natural loss of the region, “if nothing is done immediately and a substantial vision”. Rewilding Portugal supports the call for a landscape “more resilient to fire, more functional from the point of view of ecosystems, and more biodiverse and abundant in fauna and flora”, he points out.

With this objective in mind, Rewilding Portugal welcomes a proposal for urgent ecological restoration measures by actors in various parts of the territory and with responsibilities in this matter – including all the municipal councils of Serra da Estrela, the ICNF and the APA. This proposal includes short, medium and long term intervention in order to repair Serra da Estrela and prevent these catastrophic fires from being repeated in the future. Measures were also included, some of which are already used in similar situations before, which are not recommended for a recovery of Serra da Estrela.

Among the measures advocated, the Guarda-based organization, the implementation of the 2022 deadline (before the implementation of the 2022 deadline) “the cutting and provision of a longer deadline for construction of death for the construction of palisades to prevent recovery, namely in areas with a recovery period, carrying out emergency sowing to prevent soil recovery and preserve the survivors’ recovery fauna; and advance in the recovery phases of environmental emergencies; with the construction of small ponds and flooding areas in the landscape”, he stresses.

As for measures for implementation in the medium and long term (from 2023 onwards), they pointed to maintaining the resolution of herbivory fires and increasing key herbivore species, especially the Garrana breed, deer and chamois, and also increase the number of fawns. “The creation of an Integral Forest Management Plan for the Serra for the next decade and it will become accountable for the future, ensuring the maintenance of the continuity of forest maintenance so that this renewal and become again” in an area high natural value in Portugal”, is another of the proposals expressed in the document.

On the other hand, Rewilding Portugal advises against several measures, such as tree planting campaigns (the failure rate of these trees coming from live and mostly slow-growing trees is highly high and there is no long-term follow-up, necessary for a long-term result, namely pines and pseudogas, and even as native trees they should be planted only in areas where the seed bank is very poor and where natural dispersion takes longer); and the construction of dams (these large structures have environmental impacts, imply changes in the landscape and are dependent on constant water flows to supply them).

Rewilding Portugal hopes that this document will be about supporting decisions on how to act in the short, may and long term in Serra da Estrela “to ensure that in the future we have a more resilient and prosperous mountain range, as is surely the wish of all. everything, given the situation of environmental, social and economic calamity that the fires (especially in 2017 and 2022) cause, this should be seen as an opportunity for reimbursement or the future of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park for the next 100 years”, he concludes. .