Dead or alive?

Saturday 2nd September 2023.

If you are able to provide the police (GNR) in Monchique or the CID (PJ) in Portimão with relevant information on the forest fires that occurred on Tuesday, 15 August in Chilrão (near Marmelete) and on Monday, 28 August at Picota (near Alferce), information leading to the identification, arrest and incarceration of the arsonists, ECO123 magazine will pay you a 1,000 euro reward. This is only the beginning – we do hope that Monchique City Hall will join us and increase the reward, so the arsonists may be caught.

In times of climate change any native tree saved from a forest fire is an active shade provider, keeping moisture in the soil and also transforming CO2 into oxygen. In contrast, any tree falling victim to a forest fire becomes an active producer of CO2, and is no longer able to turn CO2 into oxygen. One square kilometre of burnt forest emits around 20,000 tons of CO2, the same amount of CO2 as are emitted, on average, by 4,000 Portuguese (5,000 kg CO2 per year) into the atmosphere, through mobility, dietary habits, electricity usage, etc. Utter madness.

Our ECO123 team here in Monchique has subscribed unconditionally to the goal of the Paris climate agreement; from 2025 onwards we will produce our magazine in a climate-neutral way, without (eucalyptus) paper. We will not stand for a few misguided arsonists laying waste to our mountain range year on year with forest fires. It’s high time for climate protection and ecology to become the sole determining factor of our thoughts and actions. With this in mind, those who want to give information on catching the arsonists who laid those two fires, may also contact us directly, and anonymously if they prefer: editor@eco123.info, or by calling 967 195 930.

In the case of these two forest fires, which were extinguished thanks to the utmost efforts of the united fire services and the water bomber planes brought in to help fight forest fires, people, animals, as well as agriculture and forestry suffered enormous damage. At the end of each forest fire we are always faced with poverty. Houses are destroyed, tools and tractors burnt, and a lot more turned to ash. After the forest fires of 1991, 2003, 2004, 2016 and 2018, which were to a large part disastrous, we say: enough is enough. There must be zero tolerance towards arsonists. We at ECO123 are trying to bring climate protection into the heart of society, where it belongs. Arsonists, as for them, belong in jail (preventive custody safety) and for a substantial amount of time, with no right to early release.