I manage several parcels of forest and agricultural land in Portugal, including areas of native species (cork and other oaks, strawberry trees, pine trees, chesnut trees) and eucalyptus. I regulary plant and take care of native trees.
This documentary tries to pin the blame for mega wildfires in Portugal exclusively to eucalyptus, which is a popularly held belief, but not a scientific and technical one. Technical reports have been produced and solutions proposed - politicians have simply ignored them.
To make it even more ridiculous, the fires of 2017 were mostly in pinus pinaster (maritime pine) areas. You can even see it in several drone footage scenes. Maritime pine is never mentioned.
Eucalyptus monoculture (as any monoculture) has several issues, but blaming wildfires on it is either ignorant or deliberately misleading. Any mediterranean forest without proper vegetation management is bound to burn, irrespective of tree species present.
Many continuous small parcels of land without proper vegetation management (as is the case in the center of Portugal) will always lead to catastrophic wildfires. We should focus on real solutions and not propagate misinformation like this.
This documentary tries to pin the blame for mega wildfires in Portugal exclusively to eucalyptus, which is a popularly held belief, but not a scientific and technical one. Technical reports have been produced and solutions proposed - politicians have simply ignored them.
To make it even more ridiculous, the fires of 2017 were mostly in pinus pinaster (maritime pine) areas. You can even see it in several drone footage scenes. Maritime pine is never mentioned.
Eucalyptus monoculture (as any monoculture) has several issues, but blaming wildfires on it is either ignorant or deliberately misleading. Any mediterranean forest without proper vegetation management is bound to burn, irrespective of tree species present.
Many continuous small parcels of land without proper vegetation management (as is the case in the center of Portugal) will always lead to catastrophic wildfires. We should focus on real solutions and not propagate misinformation like this.
