The Municipal Commission for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires of Baião (CMGIFR) unanimously approved the 2023 Municipal Operational Plan for the Defense of the Forest Against Fires, in an ordinary meeting held on April 27, with the presentation of the candidacy, promoted by the Tâmega e Sousa CIM, to the “Village Condominiums” Programme, financed by the PRR, in addition to the situation points on the actions developed and to be developed within the scope of preventing and combating rural fires.
The deputy mayor of the City Council and councilor responsible for Civil Protection, Filipe Fonseca, underlined the importance of “defending our natural heritage, one of the greatest assets of the municipality, and guaranteeing the safety and well-being of our populations, in the first in line with our concerns”, highlighting the “excellent work that has been carried out by the forces involved”.
The Municipal Operational Plan (POM) for the Defense of the Forest Against Fires is a document that defines the strategic parking places, the sectors of activity, the schedules and the composition of the teams responsible for surveillance and detection, first intervention, combat, aftermath and post-fire surveillance.
Application to the “Village Condominiums” Program
The candidacy promoted by the Intermunicipal Community of Tâmega e Sousa (CIM-TS) for the “Village Condominiums” Programme, financed by the PRR, was also presented at the meeting, which will focus on 14 population centers in 4 of the CIM-TS municipalities. in Baião, the surroundings of 3 clusters will be intervened. This Program aims to change the occupation of the land in the surroundings of clusters that are very susceptible to large rural fires, changing the occupation of highly dangerous forests to occupations that are more resilient to the passage of fire, namely agricultural occupations (eg orchards, etc.) or improved pastures that promote grazing. In this way, it is intended to increase the passive protection of agglomerations, built heritage and people. The CMGIFR of Baião decided, unanimously, to give a favorable opinion to the candidacy.
At the meeting, a status report was made with regard to the implementation of fuel management actions carried out in the Municipality so far.
The status of work on drawing up the Sub-regional Plan of Action was also presented, within the scope of the Sub-regional Plan for Integrated Management of Rural Fires in Tâmega e Sousa, the planning instrument that, at sub-regional level, will define the measures and actions to be implemented by 2030, in the field of rural fire management and the protection of people and built property against rural fires.
