Wildfires in Galicia

2006 wildfire in Baiona by Delmi Álvarez

Fires in Galicia are caused by deforestation and brush clearing, the removal of indigenous fauna, and arsonists. The fires have been occurring since the mid-1990s.[1] Fires in Galicia represent 50% of the area burned each year in Spain and 40% of all fires.[1]

## History

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With the first fire, hundreds and thousands succeeded, cataloging several provinces of Galicia as a catastrophic area[2]

On Sunday 15 October 2017,[3] Galicia experienced an unusual heat wave at that time of the year, and shortly after noon the heat, the relative humidity of the air formula 30/30/30 = forest fire[4] (More than 30 degrees temperature, less than 30% humidity and winds of more than 30 kilometers per hour.) activated the alarm of extreme risk of fires in the southern area of the Galician country.

## Causes and prevention

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Galician biologist Xabier Vázquez Pumariño[5] among other scientific, claim for the eradicate the proliferation of new eucalyptus plantations and unnatural invasive species of the Galician ecosystem. That kind of business give profit to many people earning millions of euros but destroying the native forests,[6] also there is a liking of pollution in the sea (Ence, Celulosa, Paper pulp mill in Pontevedra). The eucalyptus grow fast and takes a lot of water[7][8]

The brush clearing, the lack of autochthonous Galician horses that eat the gorse and help to clean the forest, the disastrous forestry policy, the contracts in aircraft rentals, the lack of means and brigades for the extinction, or the increase of the plantation of eucalyptus that devastates the mountains and forests where there used to be native trees that protected it from fire.

According to the media and experts,[9] fires in Galicia could be avoided if there were means and an effective plan to avoid them. Another major problem that has not been solved is the emerging plantation of eucalyptus, an invasive species from Australia that destroys the land and is a business that proliferates among many owners of forests, to supply the only pulp company in Pontevedra, being many years, the point of attention among ecologists and people living from the collection of shellfish in the estuary of Pontevedra.

The Galician Government began a compensation initiative to encourage the substitution of eucalyptus for native vegetation or to achieve its elimination in those areas where, by nature, no type of plantation existed.[10] In Portugal and Galicia, ecologists, schools and environmental protection groups have taken the initiative[11] to uproot the eucalyptus and plant other species. This is the case of Ferraria de Sao Joao, a village in the municipality of Penela (Portugal), which was threatened by recent large forest fires that devastated thousands of hectares, a threat that Casal de Sao Simao also suffered, so both decided to act to protect its population by uprooting eucalyptus. In addition, environmentalists in the area denounce the lack of control over illegal plantations of this alien arboreal species.[12]

In Galicia and Portugal, brigades of dissatisfied citizens have been created to remove the eucalyptus shoots.[13]

United Nations (UN) recognizes the recovering of natural spaces in the mountains of Froxán and Santiago de Covelo - in A Coruña municipality of Lousame and Covelo (Pontevedra), respectively. They have become the first in Spain and third in Europe to enter the ICCA registry, under the United Nations Program United for the Environment. This international distinction recognizes those natural spaces that are managed, recovered or rehabilitated effectively by local or indigenous communities.[14]

Eucalyptus is a support for the expansion of Velutina wasp, due to the high altitude of this species[15] and to be a perennial leaf that protects and camouflages throughout the year. This insect kills bees of honey that affects beekeepers and has already become a plague[16] and also kill people.[17]

## Documentation

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Bucket brigade in Valadares photographed by Delmi Alvarez

Photographer Delmi Alvarez documented the fires and their aftermaths starting in 2006 in a project called Queiman Galiza (Burn Galicia). Alvarez experimented with other photojournalists one of the most tragic days documenting fires.[3]

## References

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1. ^ a b "Los incendios forestales en Galicia se repiten año tras año • Ecologistas en Acción". Ecologistas en Acción (in Spanish). 10 August 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
2. ^ Minder, Raphael (16 October 2017). "Deadly Fires Sweep Portugal and Northern Spain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
3. ^ a b "Una cadena humana en un pueblo de Pontevedra logra salvar un colegio de las llamas". Verne (in Spanish). 16 October 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
4. ^ KelownaNow. "How the 30-30-30 Crossover Rule affects the threat of a wildfire sparking". KelownaNow. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
5. ^ ""Existe una industria del fuego en Galicia"". La Vanguardia. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
6. ^ "Hablan los propietarios: "No es el eucalipto, es el abandono"". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 21 April 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
7. ^ visiontel, Especial "Contra o Lume" (Programa final), retrieved 29 January 2019
8. ^ Pontevedra, Diario de (12 October 2018). "Ence propone no seguir ocupando más monte en Galicia con eucaliptos". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2019.
9. ^ "Los incendios forestales en Galicia se repiten año tras año • Ecologistas en Acción". Ecologistas en Acción (in Spanish). 10 August 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
10. ^ "La Xunta bonificará la retirada de eucaliptos con 500 euros por hectárea". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 13 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
11. ^ farodevigo.es (13 October 2018). "Camos, monte libre de eucaliptos". www.farodevigo.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2019.
12. ^ Gleza, Monica (25 September 2017). "En Portugal arrancan eucaliptos y en Galicia hay más que en Australia". Greenteach (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 March 2019.
13. ^ "Las brigadas deseucaliptizadoras actúan en Cotobade (Pontevedra) con personas "descontentas" del modelo forestal". Europa Press. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
14. ^ "Los montes gallegos de Froxán y Covelo, distinguidos por la ONU". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 3 September 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
15. ^ Vigo, Faro de (17 July 2018). "La velutina, un peligro oculto en la lucha contra el fuego en Galicia". www.farodevigo.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2019.
16. ^ Coruña, La Opinión de A. (15 January 2019). "La velutina va a más en Galicia con casi 500 nidos destruidos a la semana en 2018". www.laopinioncoruna.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2019.
17. ^ "Las tres muertes en Galicia no son casuales: "No crecen los alérgicos sino las avispas"". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2019.