For two weeks, Spain and Portugal have been ravaged by flames. Beyond the emergency, these fires reveal the vulnerability of Iberian forests. Eucalyptus, introduced for its economic and aesthetic interest, is pointed out as a “real torch”, according to the geographer Pauline Vilain-Carlotti.
For two weeks, Spain and Portugal have been facing a wave of fires of rare intensity. Beyond their disastrous consequences in terms of destruction or rejection in the greenhouse gas atmosphere, these fires raise the question of the structural vulnerability of Iberian forests. Some are indeed accusing the species planted, such as eucalyptus or pine, of stirring the flames.
“This type of trees poses a big problem,” said the doctor in geography and specialist in the risk of fires from the Pauline Vilain-Carlotti on Thursday in the program A whole world of RTS.
Eucalyptus is a real torch: in case of fire, it gets rid of very quickly and complicates extinction operations
It must be said that eucalyptus have been introduced by humans by economic interest: “They have relatively rapid growth and are very useful for industries such as paper pulp,” she explains. And their aesthetic attraction also makes it popular trees to embellish landscapes. “Now, eucalyptus is a real torch: in case of fire, it gets rid of very quickly and complicates extinction operations,” she deplores.
>> Read also: Heat wave and fires leave no respite to southern Europe
Very gourmet tree in water
Not to mention that this tree essence is very greedy in water, creating all around “green deserts”. “This essence will capture most of the water resources and dry up the floors, which implies having little vegetation or very dry vegetation on its surroundings.”
We could decide that we are no longer in a logic of consumption of nature, and not to intervene in spaces where one would risk putting it in danger
For the specialist, the solution does not only go through the planting of species more resistant to flames. According to her, it is also and above all a question of leaving the Mediterranean vegetation recoloned the abandoned land. “That is to say that we have planted eucalyptus on land released due to the agricultural disappointment,” she said.
The agricultural depletion thus appears as an aggravating factor: “We have such devastating fires, in South Europe in particular, because a certain number of spaces have been abandoned and are no longer maintained to create natural firewalls.”
Recalling that 90% of forest fires are linked to human activities, Pauline Vilain-Carlotti also pleads to “get people out of forestry space” and rethink our relationship to nature: “We could decide that we are no longer in a logic of nature consumption and not intervene on spaces where we risk putting it in danger.”
>> Read also: When the forest burns, the human being is almost always at the origin of the disaster
Interview by Eric Guevaraz-Frey
Text for the web: Fabien Grenon
