A Junta bigwig, Minister Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, visited the emergency works being carried out on the land damaged by fire in Los Guájares and the Lecrín Valley.
The Mayors of Los Guájares (Antonio Mancilla), El Pinar (Francisco Titos), El Valle (Antonio Ruiz) and Albuñuelas (José Díaz) were present. Minister Fernández-Pacheco has assured them that the work is “practically completed” to about 95%.
This work includes repairing forest tracks and erecting soil-erosion dams in the barrancos, which work in such a way as to trap the rainwater so that it loses the suspended material (soil) and deposits them before flowing over the top.
Another task was cutting down trees that are too damaged to recover. Many of them will be used on hillsides, laid across them, to hold back the soil, to, rather than being simply loaded and carried away. A law brought in by a socialist Central Government over a decade ago stipulates that any wood recovered after a fire must be used on the land and cannot be sold to lumber companies.
Work is being carried out in four main areas, totalling 1,450 hectares in extension: The first of the areas, (465.56 hectares) is in the Pechos de la Galera (public mountain land), within the municipality of Los Guájares. The second area, (350.83 hectares), corresponds to public forestry land of Puerto de la Toba (Albuñuelas) and in El Valle.
The third batch of work (405.6 hectares), includes public mountain land in Cerro Chinchirina (El Pinar and El Valle) and in the area of Las Llanadas (El Pinar), as well as commons land in Los Guajares.
Finally, the fourth area (228.33 hectares), covers the area of the public mountain land of Guájar La Vieja (Los Guájares) and the Venta de la Cebada mountain range, within the municipality of El Pinar.
Minister Fernández-Pacheco claimed even before the fire was finally put out, his ministry was already working on the ground to analyse the effects of the fire and consider each action to recover the forest, regenerate the soil and avoid soil erosion on burnt land.
(News/Noticias: Los Guajares/Valle de Lecrin, Granada, Andalucia)