According to the Integrated Management Agency for Rural Fires (AGIF), as of June 20, within the framework of the Integrated Management System for Rural Fires (SGIFR), 12 sub-regional action programs (PSA) are approved out of 23 planned on the mainland, with three (Algarve, Lisbon Metropolitan Area, and Oeste) published.
Besides the five regional action programs — Algarve, Alentejo, Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Center, and North –, between 2022 and 2024, programs for the Alentejo sub-regions (Litoral, Baixo, Central, and Alto), Tagus (Leziria and Médio), Porto Metropolitan Area, and Tâmega and Sousa are approved.
The public institute, led by Tiago Oliveira, foresees the approval of five PSA (Ave, Cávado, Alto Tâmega and Barroso, Aveiro, and Viseu, Dão and Lafões) in the third quarter, five (Coimbra, Beiras e Serra da Estela, Douro, Alto Minho and Trás-os-Montes) in the fourth quarter, and Leiria remains “without forecast,” pending the commission’s decision.
The approval of “about 52% of sub-regional action programs” or their situation in the final validation phase, out of a total of 23 sub-regions, with most others “in advanced technical phase,” confirms “the sustained pace of progress,” stated an official source from AGIF in a note sent to Lusa.
Currently underway are 278 municipal execution programs (PME) planned for 2026 (corresponding to the 278 mainland municipalities), “of which 43 are already approved — 27 in the region of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, 16 in the Algarve” –, a figure that corrects the information of 44 approved, advanced in February, by an official source from the agency. Thus, 235 are in preparation.
In the 18 municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, only Oeiras, north of the Tagus, and Moita and Setúbal, south, do not yet have their respective PME approved, according to AGIF.
The three regions of Oeste and Lisbon Metropolitan Area (in Lisbon and Tagus Valley) and Algarve “have fully completed the planning cycle,” with the Oeste being the first to obtain this status, by having approved the PSA and all the PME. It is “currently the only area where criteria for the analysis of resizing fuel management strips were agreed upon.”
AGIF also highlighted that the municipality of Palmela, in the Setúbal district, was the first in the country to have all planning levels completed, with the submission of the first PME.
Regionally, in the North, 28 PME are being prepared for the Porto Metropolitan Area and Tâmega and Sousa, with bilateral meetings taking place on the missing details to conclude the PSA, aiming to have “the 86 PME of the North region by December 2025.”
In the Center, the PSA for Beira Baixa is technically completed as of March 10, awaiting commission approval, and AGIF is promoting technical sessions “focusing on the adaptation of Priority Areas for Prevention and Safety (APPS) and the consolidation of secondary fuel management network sheets.”
In Lisbon and Tagus Valley, the review of the PSA for Oeste and Lisbon Metropolitan Area is approved, with the public consultation of Médio Tagus underway, the approval in the commission of the Leziria do Tejo program, as well as the review of 27 approved PME (12 from Oeste and 15 from Lisbon Metropolitan Area) and the preparation of 11 from Médio Tagus (2026), awaiting “the conclusion of the public consultation process and final approval of the PSA, on which they are based.”
In Alentejo, all PSA are approved and under public consultation, and among the 47 PME of 2026 in preparation, some are ready but awaiting the conclusion of the public consultation and final approval of their respective PSA.
In the Algarve region, all SGIFR instruments are approved, and the regional/sub-regional program is under review, as are the 16 PME.
“With more than half of the territory covered by approved instruments or in the final phase, the country is finally managing fire based on an integrated strategic planning, solutions at the territory scale, and a logic of local co-responsibility,” AGIF emphasized.
“This is a profound transformation that strengthens the capacity for prevention, preparation, and response to rural fires, in a more effective, integrated, and sustainable manner,” it added.
PME are developed by municipalities, in coordination with municipal integrated rural fire management commissions, according to the priorities defined in the PSA, proposing actions to be implemented in the municipality, and identifying constraints, general regulatory rules, and necessary resources.
While PSA and PME are not approved, the municipal forest fire defense plans remain in force, effective until December 31, 2024, which the government extended until the end of this year.
