Abandonment of the rural world and lack of agroforestry management: the breeding ground for fires

The region is currently undergoing a major catastrophe that has caused anger and impotence among the inhabitants of the villages and neighboring towns that have suffered it. The fire that has devastated the great green heart of the Marina Alta since last Saturday, August 13, has already become another stain that will mark the history of the territory.

Road from Pego to Ebo after the fire in the Valls de la Marina

The Vall d'Ebo, the Vall de Gallinera, the Vall d'Alcalà, the Vall de Laguar, Castell de Castells, l'Atzúbia and Pego have seen their lands razed in a matter of days. The disaster reached other municipalities such as Sagra, Tormos and Orba and even other regions such as Comtat, in the municipalities of Tollos, Famorca and Fageca, or Vilallonga in Safor.

There have been numerous interviews with those affected who have desperately seen the land that has seen them grow burn. And they have also had loudspeaker expert voices who have wanted to transfer the most coherent explanations to a disaster of such caliber.

Like the forestry engineer Ferran Dalmau, who a few days ago gave an interview on À Punt Noticies where he offered overwhelming data and the necessary reasoning to understand the problem. According to data collected by newtral.es, the forest area in the country has grown by 33,6% in the last 50 years. Dalmau, for his part, assured in the interview that in the Valencian Community this space represents 56% of the hectares of the Valencian territory.

Views of La Carroja, Vall de Gallinera

Some data that, a priori, may seem good, since the green land that we need to mitigate climate change has increased. But, without control, it becomes a great abandoned monster that, in hot weather, dries naturally and catches fire just by looking at it.

Peoples without management capacity

The loss of control in these large green spaces is due to the lack of management and, therefore, to the low investment to be able to manage them properly. Small towns like Vall de la Marina do not have sufficient capacity to manage the forests on their own because they do not have the necessary resources. And when they agree to do their part, they are denied the opportunity to clean up the mountains and no other solutions are offered, as reported by Felip Mengual (Vall de Gallinera) in this media a few days ago.

Views from the Penya de la Foradà in the Vall de Gallinera

Experts like Dalmau directly relate the abandonment of the rural world and the massive transfer of the population to the largest urban centers with the expanding and uncontrolled forest spaces. 30, 40 or 50 years ago, the management of these spaces was not so necessary because it was the inhabitants of the towns themselves who were in charge of doing it, with the work of their own fields. According to the expert, currently, only 8% of the rural population remains in the Valencian territory.

The municipalities were surrounded by farmland that reached well into the mountains. The cattle fed throughout the mountain and naturally cleared the forests. But, now, the lack of the agricultural and livestock world, the scarce generational change mixed with the little agroforestry management that corrects the lost activity generates an enormous forest mass that is difficult to govern. And, with fires like this, the consequences of not investing to take care of the rural world that characterizes Valencian history are experienced.