On June 4, EDP Distribuição promoted the II Conference on Vegetation Management, with the purpose of providing a forum to discuss concrete measures capable of guaranteeing the safety of the electricity grids, the population and forest areas.
The digital event, broadcast live, was accompanied by more than 630 people from the most diverse relevant entities in this field, namely related to the Academy, Forestry Offices, Companies and national and regional public bodies. The opening of the Conference was in charge of the Secretary of State for Nature Conservation, Forests and Spatial Planning.
"The measures that were recently approved in a meeting of the Council of Ministers pursue this superior challenge: to build well managed and ordered rural spaces, with the consequent reduction of fire and pest risks, a major condition for attracting investment that, consequently, will lead to a sustainable exploitation of the forest, creating jobs and income for small forest owners and generating greater quantity and quality of raw material for the industry, promoting the increase of national production and exports. This vision converges in the Mission to protect people and goods from rural fires and to value wild spaces, keeping ecosystems in a good state of conservation through the identification of strategic guidelines and respective objectives, for which it is necessary to persistently implement a cohesive program of actions and projects for the period 2020-2030", assured João Catarino. "Only a Portugal protected from serious rural fires, and capable of compensating the forest owner conveniently and fairly, will enable it to embrace the challenge with determination and confidence, knowing that only cooperation among all, guarantees the achievement of the desired goals," concluded the Secretary of State for Nature Conservation, Forests and Spatial Planning.
Under the current National Forest Fire Fighting System, EDP Distribuição has the duty to set up fuel management bands along the high and medium voltage power lines at strategic locations previously defined in the Municipal Forest Fire Fighting Plans, with the owner being obliged to allow access to the property.
"Thanks to the investment that EDP Distribuição has made in innovation and technology, its performance is increasingly directed and efficient. The focus of our teams and our constant presence in the district and municipal committees for the defence of the Forest, where strategies and action plans are defined, ensure more effective management close to the local communities. This year alone, 26,800 km will be inspected, critical points along 6,200 km of power lines will be intervened, and an additional 10,000 hectares will be built within the Secondary Network of Fuel Management Ranges. The numbers, per se, are indicative of our commitment", assured João Marques da Cruz, member of EDP's Executive Board of Directors.
The "relationship between linear structures in the landscape and burnt areas" and the "use of productivity and growth models to optimise the periodicity of inspections of the size of trees under the distribution networks" were two of the topics presented and discussed during the conference by researchers, specialists and representatives of entities and institutions linked to the sector, namely the Independent Technical Observatory (OTI), the Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF) and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF).
"The search for best practices, with a view to the safety of the electricity grids, the forest and the population, must be the commitment of all, owners, companies, municipalities, infrastructures, civil protection and academia, in a joint mission", warned João Torres, chairman of EDP Distribuição at the close of the II Conference on Vegetation Management.
