Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 16 June 2018
Send in the goats: Portugal goes low-tech to beat wildfires

By BARRY HATTON less than 75,000 hectares
Associated Press (185,325 acres). Since 2000,
MOITA DA GUERRA, Portu- that number has grown to
gal (AP) — Unaware that more than 150,000 hect-
time is short, more than 200 ares a year, with experts at-
brown-and-white goats tributing the rise to hotter,
slowly munch their way drier summers.
through the thick under- The hamlet of Moita da
growth that covers the hills Guerra, in the heart of
of southern Portugal. the Serra do Caldeirao hill
Squinting against the sun's range, 250 kilometers (150
glare, Daniel Fernandes, miles) south of the capital
a 61-year-old goatherd, Lisbon, illustrates some of
whistles and makes clicking the challenges. It lies in a
noises to direct his animals thinly populated area only
across the ridges where a few kilometers (miles)
they can fill their bellies on from the famous beaches
the dense vegetation. that make this Algarve re-
Yet this is not just a pretty gion one of Europe's top
pastoral scene. These hun- vacation destinations.
gry goats are on the front "There used to be lots of
lines of Portugal's fight herds around here," Fer-
against deadly summer nandes, the goatherd, says,
wildfires. leaning on his thick walking
The government is hiring stick. "Some people have
this herd, and dozens of died, some gave up, and
others nationwide, as part young people aren't inter-
of its race against the clock ested in this."
to guard rugged parts of Fanned by the summer
the Iberian nation against "Nortada" — north wind —
a repeat of last year's cat- In this picture taken June 5 2018, a goat eats under the trees in Moita da Guerra, on the hills of the abundant, waist-high
astrophic wildfires. That in- southern Portugal's Algarve region. brush here fuels wildfires
cludes trying to clean up Associated Press that race across the hills.
as much woodland as pos- Fernandes and his wife
sible before temperatures one that has at times been Emergency shelters and towns and cities. That has Anita — the only two resi-
rise and the land becomes slowed by red tape. But evacuation routes are be- left care of the forests in dents left in Moita da Guer-
a tinderbox. one of the tactics being ing established in villages, the hands of mostly elderly ra — vividly recall a major
Blazes routinely blacken adopted is a proven win- and their church bells will people who often lack fi- blaze in 2004 that almost
large areas of forest every ner: Deploying goats as an now toll when a wildfire ap- nancial resources. engulfed them. In the end,
year in Portugal. But last environmentally-friendly proaches. Portuguese farmers of- the flames leapt over them
year they killed 106 peo- way to prevent wildfires has The government is also ten plant long, unbroken between the treetops and
ple in what was by far the been done for decades in upgrading firefighters' re- stretches of eucalyptus, a kept going. Their goats
deadliest summer fire sea- the United States, especial- sponse capabilities, hiring fast-growing tree that offers were crucial to the family's
son on record. It was also a ly California and the Pacific 12 water-dumping planes a quick financial return from survival, because they had
wake-up call for authorities, Northwest. and 41 helicopters. In the the country's important pa- eaten and trampled down
who were slow to react to With Portugal's peak July peak wildfire period, it per pulp industry. But eu- the undergrowth that sur-
social trends and a chang- 1-Sept. 30 wildfire period promises that more than calyptus also burns like a rounded their home, starv-
ing climate. just around the corner, the 10,700 firefighters will be on fire torch. The government ing the flames.
"Last year was when it be- government is enacting standby — 1,000 more than is introducing legislation to His latest herd is busy on a
came patently clear to a raft of preventive mea- last year. encourage the planting of government-financed mis-
us that something differ- sures. They include using But even as Portugal rushes more slow-growing native sion this year to carve out
ent had to be done," says goats and bulldozers to to get ready, experts warn species, such as cork trees, firebreaks in the Algarve
Miguel Joao de Freitas, the clear woodland 10 me- it will likely take years to cor- holm oaks or chestnut trees, before the hot days of sum-
government's junior minister ters (33 feet) either side of rect the trends that make which are more resilient to mer arrive.
for forests and rural devel- country roads. Property the country especially vul- flames and can slow the Still, a lot remains to be
opment. "Prevention is the owners must clear a 50-me- nerable. advance of wildfires. done to fend off the threat
most urgent requirement, ter (164-foot) radius around In recent decades, people Climate change isn't help- of wildfires in Portugal — a
and it has to be done as an isolated house, and 100 have deserted the coun- ing. In the 1980s, Portugal project that experts say will
soon as possible." meters (328 feet) around a tryside in droves to pur- saw its annual average of take years.
It's a mammoth task, and hamlet. sue a better life in bigger charred forest come in at "Unfortunately, there is no
single, game-changing fix
to the dilemma Portugal
now finds itself in regarding
the threat of catastrophic
fire," a report published by
fire experts in April com-
mented. "Rather, the solu-
tion will demand dozens
of strategic improvements
made in the next several
years and possibly over the
next decade."q