Speaking to Lusa after an ANBP General Council held in Lisbon, Fernando Curto criticised the “lack of political will” to impose prevention and clearing of undergrowth.

“We have tall undergrowth next to the highways, we have areas where there are a lot of trees, also on the edges of inhabited areas,” said Fernando Curto.

According to the ANBP director, “almost nothing has been cleaned up, which greatly increases the risk of forest fires this summer.”

The situation is “very worrying, close to highways. We see large bushes on the side of the road and all it takes is a cigarette or a careless act to start a fire,” he pointed out.

The ANBP lamented the lack of protocols regulating the work of professional firefighters in fighting fires.

“It happens every year. Firefighters don’t know how they’re going to intervene in the situation,” said Fernando Curto, adding that municipal councils should safeguard the situation of their firefighters, so that they are “available to intervene in fires,” but without “leaving their municipalities unprotected.”