FOREST fires could be prevented 20 years ahead of their happening if the government would invest sufficient funds, says Spain's branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Effectively, a fire which breaks out this summer could have been avoided with proper planning in 1994, the leading environmental charity claims.
Every year, an average of 15,600 wildfires break out – mostly in summer – of which 28 are raging infernos wiping out massive areas of land and threatening the safety of property and people.
And 40 per cent of the serious damage to the countryside is caused by just 0.2 per cent of them, each causing considerable damage to the environment.
Governments spend 51 million euros annually on extinguishing forest fires, 18 million on preventing them and just 10 million on regenerating damaged areas – and yet the latter two are the most crucial, the WWF states.
The problem here is that politicians consider fire prevention an 'expense' rather than an 'investment', says secretary-general of the WWF, Juan Carlos del Olmo.
Regenerating fire-damaged areas can take up to 30 years but, done properly, can actually prevent a blaze taking hold in the future, says Lourdes Hernández of the charity's forestry team.
Most fires which cause major destruction happen in areas where 'invasive' species of plants or trees are grouped together, particularly where there are only one or two types at a time.
By choosing an 'irregular' mix of native trees and plants – a minimum of 65 per cent, and only occupying 23 per cent of the fire-damaged area, the risk is cut, as is the 'pattern' in which they are planted.
Sra Hernández explains that by planting trees in a mosaic pattern with more open forestry masses, a diverse selection of hardy and fast-growing species and strategically-placed shrubs forming a fire-break, a blaze is less likely to break out and, if it does, will be far easier to contain and less likely to spread and cause havoc.
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