As in previous years, the Youth Volunteer Program for Nature and Forest will also be held this year, promoted by the Portuguese Institute for Sports and Youth (IPDJ) with the support of the Baião City Council.
The first round of eight participants who will integrate this project called “Patrulha Baião”, attended a training session on the 14th of July, at the Casa de Juventude e Desporto de Chavães, to better understand how to perform the functions that are assigned to them, namely, how to proceed in the event of a forest fire and in raising public awareness.
This program, aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 30, promotes volunteering within the scope of nature protection and preservation, as well as aims to raise awareness among the population, namely about land clearing and burning.
The group will be on the field from the 17th of July, where they will be gathered in teams of two and distributed among the lookout points considered in the Municipal Operational Plan for the Defense of Forests and Nature against Fires and from where they will carry out fixed monitoring and on foot. of the territory.
In addition to prevention and monitoring actions, these young people are also tasked with collecting waste deposited in the forest, to contribute to a cleaner ecosystem and a pollution-free municipality.
This initiative was attended by the councilor for the environment of the Municipality of Baião, Henrique Ribeiro, the Commanders of the fire brigades of Baião and Santa Marinha do Zêzere, Alexandre Pinto and Márcio Vil, respectively, representatives of the Environmental Protection Nucleus of the Amarante GNR, the technician of the municipality representing Civil Protection, Luciana Pinto, the coordinator for the Youth area of the Municipality of Baião, Filomena Cardoso and Carla Pinto and Sara Pereira of the Environmental and Cultural Association from Vale de Ovil – EcoSimbioses, who provided the training action.
The councilor for the environment of the Municipality of Baião, Henrique Ribeiro, thanked the young people for “the defense of a valuable heritage such as the forest”, as well as highlighted the success that this initiative had in recent years, because “if it had not had an effect, we wouldn’t be here today.” The councilor ended up expressing the wish that “it will be a good sign that there are few fire outbreaks, not because they are not attentive, but because they do not exist.”
The Commander of the fire brigade of Baião, Alexandre Pinto, warned young people to “priority their safety and if they take cars to the mountain, put them in an escape position, so that in case of fire they do not have to maneuver and can abandon the location as soon as possible.”
Márcio Vil, Commander of the Volunteer Firefighters of Santa Marinha do Zêzere said that “it is very important to involve young people in the causes of forest protection and the environment. Programs like this provide concrete experience in this field, but the most important thing is that the young participants always safeguard their safety and do not put themselves at risk”. In turn, Carla Pinto and Sara Pereira described the importance of protecting the environment and protecting biodiversity, which is particularly relevant in a municipality with a high percentage of forested areas such as Baião, with a view to the sustainability of the planet and our society.
