VZCZCXRO4849
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHLI #0564/01 3031356
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301356Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY LISBON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7952
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHPD/AMCONSUL PONTA DELGADA 0635

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 000564 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR SENV PGOV PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGAL 2009 FOREST FIRE ROUNDUP 
 
REF: A. 04 LISBON 1196 
     ¶B. 05 LISBON 1467 
 
LISBON 00000564  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1.  (U) Portugal forest fire experts Mark Beighley and Tiago 
Oliveira said 2009 was a light forest fire season in 
Portugal, and the government of Portugal (GOP) has 
strengthened its firefighting capabilities since 2006. 
Education programs to reduce human-caused ignitions and 
forest fuel reduction efforts need to continue to safeguard 
forestry resources which generate 3 percent of Portugal's 
gross domestic product (GDP) and support over 250,000 jobs. 
The expanded GOP firefighting capabilities should be adequate 
for normal fire seasons but risk being overwhelmed in heavy 
fire seasons like 2003 and 2005.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Poleconoff spoke with Mark Beighley, formerly of the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and now an 
independent consultant on forest fire issues, and Tiago 
Oliveira, risk manager for Portuguese pulp and paper company 
Grupo Portucel-Saporcel (GPS), several times about the 2009 
fire season in Portugal.  Beighley was in Portugal this 
summer under contract to GPS to conduct an assessment of GOP 
forest firefighting capability and improvements to the 
firefighting system since the Forest Defense Against Fire 
Plan (FDAFP) was implemented in 2006.  Before his retirement 
from the USDA Beighley worked extensively with GOP forestry 
authorities and contributed to the FDAFP.  Beighley and 
Oliveira shared their assessment of the 2009 fire season and 
fire fighting capabilities in Portugal. 
 
¶3.  (U) Portugal's forest resources are important 
economically and environmentally.  The forestry sector in 
Portugal provides 3 percent of GDP, over 10 percent of 
Portuguese exports, and over 250,000 jobs.  The forests are 
also critical for maintaining hydrological cycles, protecting 
against soil erosion, supporting biodiversity, and for 
contributing to scenic leisure and tourism activities. 
 
ANOTHER LIGHT FIRE SEASON IN 2009 
--------------------------------- 
¶4.  (U) Although final figures are unavailable, 2009 was a 
relatively light fire season for Portugal, with the number of 
fire occurrences and total burned area below average.  (Note: 
 A normal fire season in Portugal is a maximum of 250 new 
fires per day, and total area burned per season has averaged 
157,000 hectares over the last nine years.)  The fire season 
started early with larger brush fires in the north during a 
late March and early April dry spell.  After April 
temperatures dropped and the number of fires did not increase 
again until late August, continuing until early October. 
 
¶5.  (U) 2003 and 2005 were much heavier fire seasons in 
Portugal, with total burned areas of 430,000 and 300,000 
hectares, respectively.  Post coordinated USG monetary and 
technical support during these devastating fire seasons, 
producing a bilateral fire cooperation program in cooperation 
with the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) and 
facilitating assistance from USDA firefighting experts 
(including Beighley) (reftels).  These devastating seasons 
led to the implementation of the 2006 Forest Defense Against 
Fire Plan. 
 
IMPROVED CAPABILITIES SINCE 2006 
-------------------------------- 
¶6.  (U) Firefighting capabilities have improved since the GOP 
adopted the 2006 FDAFP.  The national firefighting 
organization has been reformed to improve program 
coordination and integration, and first responders are 
better-trained and specialized.  Firefighting "combat 
strength" has increased to about 9,500 firefighters, over 
2,200 vehicles and 56 aircraft.  The GOP has also encouraged 
more community-level planning, and 234 municipalities have 
developed their own forest fire response plans. 
 
¶7.  (U) The weakest point of the Portuguese forest fire 
defense is the fixed detection system.  One of the more 
political changes made since 2006 was to move management of 
the forest fire lookout towers (RPNVs) from the AFN (National 
Forest Authority) to the GNR (Republican National Guard). 
Starting this year, the GNR was required to hire the 
chronically unemployed to staff the RPNV towers.  The new 
staff was inadequately trained and often had low morale from 
being required to work in towers far from their own 
communities.  This often resulted in late reporting of new 
fires leading to more area burned before the fire fighters 
could respond. 
 
CHALLENGES REMAIN 
----------------- 
¶8.  (U) Portuguese firefighting capabilities have increased 
 
LISBON 00000564  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
since 2006 but the environmental risk of extended periods of 
extreme burning conditions has also increased.  Efforts to 
reduce the number of human ignitions are showing positive 
results, but the number of annual occurrences is still high. 
97 percent of fire ignitions in Portugal are human-caused. 
National education campaigns are making progress, but 
instilling appreciation for the value of Portugal's forest 
resources and the need to protect them may take a generation. 
 
¶9.  (U) Structural forest fuel (e.g., dry brush, dead trees) 
treatment skills have improved and the basis of a viable 
structural defense program has been established.  However, 
fuels are being added to forests much faster than they are 
being removed, and areas burned extensively in 2003 and 2005 
are now ready to burn again.  Portugal needs to expand the 
annual fuel treatment program beyond the 10-year average area 
burned by wildfire. 
 
¶10.  (U) Increased combat capacity is likely to be effective 
in years with normal and below normal burning conditions when 
fires are located primarily on the populated coastal side of 
the country, but even in some normal years firefighters may 
be stressed to respond to large fires in rural inland 
forested areas.  The increased capacity is likely to be 
inadequate in an extreme fire year, and rural inland forested 
areas would be subject to the greatest impact because of 
suppression priorities for urban-forest interface communities. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶11.  (SBU) Although the 2005 fire season was devastating it 
had a silver lining as it became the impetus for the 2006 
Forest Defense Against Fire Plan and increased spending for 
firefighting capabilities.  It is fortunate that the FDAFP 
was released when resources were more plentiful, as it is 
doubtful that the GOP could afford to be so generous with 
funding for firefighting after the onset of the global 
recession.  We hope the GOP will sustain public education and 
forestry management efforts, and post will continue to 
support and report on forestry-related activities.  End 
comment. 
 
 
For more reporting from Embassy Lisbon and information about Portugal, 
please see our Intelink site: 
 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/portal:port ugal 
BALLARD