Overview
- After August 2025’s extreme fire season that burned 50,089 hectares, the region moved from emergency response to a rebuild with a decree-law and a long-term forest plan.
- Staffing has shifted as 138 seasonal firefighter posts now run year-round and competitive exams for 195 firefighter‑drivers and 29 natural environment agents are underway.
- Prevention work includes helimulching over 1,120 hectares, new water points and access in high‑risk zones like Las Hurdes, and a unified directorate that links prevention, suppression and forest management.
- Rules were loosened to speed up preventive jobs and create “productive firebreaks,” which are strips kept open by grazing or crops to slow flames and give crews safe lines.
- Several pledges remain in progress, including the Gata‑Hurdes Mosaico project, preventive grazing programs, a dedicated investigation brigade, and legally constituted volunteer groups, while officials say real risk reduction now depends on visible fuel cuts and the coming summer’s weather.