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Nabarralde | Nabarra Papers
Who starts the forest fires?
Mila
Parot Zubimendi.
The cause of this year's fires in the Basque territories remains
a subject of heated debate. Environmental activists blamed some
local industries for using uncontrolled burning to clear land,
while local authorities said the fires were deliberately set
by small farmers who burn parcels of land during the winter
months to clear them for the following spring. The truth is
probably a combination of the two.
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Firefighters
try to contain scattered fires in Lapurdi. Forest fires
driven by strong winds burnt out hundreds of hectares of
scrubland and trees in Nabarra earlier this year.
Photo:
SudOuest |
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Most fires in February were started deliberately but journalists
chose to focus on the scapegoats, blaming the fires on some
individual farmers hoping to plant a few crops or to clear the
land for grazing. Those few environmental activists who are
taking on the job of investigating some local firms linked to
the fires, are enduring a profound sense of alienation.
But
the growing hunger for land coincided with strong winds, warm
temperatures and dryness due to a lack of rain in the part two
months. The fires simply refused to go out. In the past, forest
fires have led to the deaths of walkers trapped in the flames.
Forest
fires blackened thousands of acres of trees in the Basque territories
in France and Spain last February. Hundreds of firefighters
worked to contain the scattered fires and some of the blazes,
which had been extinguished reignited. Winds speeds were reported
at 100-km-per-hour.
The
fires reignited a debate in the Basque territories over slash
and burn, a practice considered a traditional farming method,
though it requires approval by authorities. Land burning is
forbidden during periods of dry and windy weather.
Fires
were reported in the valleys of Baztan, Malerreka, Bertizarana
in residual Nabarra. Government authorities in Nabarra said
the fires burnt more land in 72 hours than all the land burnt
by fires in the last three years.
Fires
were also reported in Karrantza, Lekeitio, Urduliz, Muskiz,
Artzentales and Sopuerta in Bizkaia.
Fires
blackened hundreds of hectares of trees in the mountains of
Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea and Zuberoa. Hundreds of firefighters
were drafted in from a wide area in an attempt to contain the
scattered fires, which in some areas were burning close to residential
areas. The fires produced choking haze throughout much of the
areas, many of which are rich in biodiversity. Police arrested
three people in connection with the fires.
The
health impacts of forest fires can be serious and widespread,
according to EEPSEA/WWF, as people are in danger of respiratory
problems.
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Fires in Nabarra's northern territories blackened hundreds
of hectares of trees as strong winds made the blazes difficult
to control. Photo courtesy of SudOuest. |
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Another major consequence of forest fires is their potential impact
on global atmospheric problems, including climate change. Only
in the past decade have researchers realized the important contributions
of biomass burning to the global budgets of carbon dioxide, methane,
nitric oxide, tropospheric ozone, methyl chloride and elemental
carbon particules.
In
many countries, vegetation, forests, savannahs and agricultural
lands are burnt to clear land and change its use. Forest clearing
accelerates as populations expand and pressures to exploit natural
resources increase. Much of the expansion into forested areas
uses the cheapest form of cover removal: fire.
Slash
and burn farming has a long and successful history in lightly
populated forest areas. Provided farmers can leave the land
for long enough to recover fully before returning, it does not
destroy forest. This may have been the case in the Basque territories.
But when migrant farmers move into the forest, things can be
very different. They lack the skills to farm the forest successfully,
and often there are too many of them allow to forest time to
recover. The result is bad for them, their soils and the forests.
To
make things worse, December 2000's storms caused the worst damage
in a decade in Nabarra's forests (in the northern territories
under French administration) to stands of trees, wildlife habitat,
buildings, utilities and roads. Wildlife habitat was ravaged
in certain areas and wildlife biologists are still assessing
the impacts and damages to populations of birds and animals.
Current forest management practices prescribe leaving some quantities
of dead trees in harvested sites. These trees are nesting sites
for birds and animals as well as important sources of biodiversity.
The vast quantities of dead -and now burnt- trees could have
negative consequences.
While
the current trend in the media is to blame the shepherds and
small farmers, officialdom may find that the usual media silence
and failure to investigate the companies linked to the fires
is inadequate to co-opt the growing rage at the grassroots.
July
2002
Mila
Parot Zubimendi is a law student and environmental activist.
She lives in Miarritze.
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