The Madeira Government intends to have by the end of the week a “rigorous assessment” of the damage caused by the fire that raged for 13 days on the island, results that will be presented publicly, said today the archipelago’s Secretary of Agriculture.
“We have time to complete all the calculations by the end of the week,” said the Secretary of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment, Rafaela Fernandes, to the Lusa news agency.
The minister added that, regarding the environment and the burnt area, “concrete data, with evidence” will be presented at a press conference, in a report that will be made public.
Furthermore, she added, the Madeira Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation will hold another meeting with journalists to clarify the situation of the island’s forest cover, “with the spaces and what is being recommended in the planning for what will be the next phase of recovery from the fires”.
“There is a lot of confusion, even in concepts, about what the Laurissilva forest is and what it is not”, she stressed, adding that this work is being prepared, “moving away from what are guesses that at the moment do not help at all”.