Government prolongs land cleaning until May 31

The government has decided to change the term of land cleaning, now setting it on May 31, 2025. A decision that meets the appeal of several associations that had already drawn attention to this need to extend the deadline, mainly because of the adverse weather conditions of recent weeks.

« The decision is based on the meteorological conditions verified in recent weeks, with persistent precipitation and high levels of moisture in the soil, which have made it difficult to perform work on the ground, » says the government in a statement, adding that « they also add the effects of recent storms that have reached various regions of the country, causing significant accumulations of knocked woody material. »

With this redefinition of the deadline, the government intends to “ensure the effectiveness of prevention interventions and reinforce the protection of people, goods and ecosystems in the risk of rural fire”.

In addition, in another order that concerns the priority parishes for inspection purposes, 988 parishes were identified (34% of the total number), covering 2,871,924 ha (hectares) of total area (32% of the surface of mainland Portugal) and encompassing 1,988,232 ha of forest spaces (37% of its total area) ”.

He adds that “the criteria adopted since 2022, which incorporate the components of conjunctural danger of rural fire and the value of ecosystems”, according to the order of the Secretaries of State for Civil Protection and the Forests.

The Deco Protest recalls that, in case of non -compliance, the fines are heavy. « There are 991 priority parishes for this cleaning, about 32% of the entire continental territory, » writes the Consumer Protection Association, noting that, after the deadline for the cleaning of forests and land, inspection begins.  » In the first phase, “priority inspection will be the owners, tenants, usufructuaries and other entities that hold land confinement to buildings located in rural spaces, in a range of 50 meters, as well as population clusters, camping parks and industrial parks confining spaces (in one hundred meters)”.

Already the second phase focuses more on road and rail chains, transport lines and distribution of electricity, as well as natural gas transport lines. « In any case, the inspection of the integrated rural fireworks management system will be constant, especially in areas traditionally affected by fires. The goal is to prevent fires that usually occur from summer height, » recalls Deco Proteste.