The statement from Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho follows negative reactions after a report on October 14 about the government’s intention to dismantle the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) and redistribute its responsibilities between the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDR).
“I would like to tell you that, both from my point of view and from the viewpoint of the Minister of Agriculture and Sea, who has primary responsibility for the ICNF, […] a national authority, be it for water, biodiversity, or forests, cannot be dismantled, divided, or fragmented. Anyone who knows our stance, mine and the minister’s, knows that we would not support a division or splitting of these competencies,” said Maria da Graça Carvalho during an event at the APA.
Graça Carvalho explained that the news “was not denied” because she “was on a plane” but insisted that it “cannot be perpetuated indefinitely without confirmation from those with authority to comment on the issue.”
Following the report, environmental organizations, the Order of Biologists, and a letter signed by hundreds of experts, including Filipe Duarte Santos, Galopim de Carvalho, Viriato Soromenho Marques, and former Environment Minister João Pedro Matos Fernandes, expressed concern over the potential dissolution of the ICNF and its possible absorption by the APA.
According to environmental specialists, merging or redistributing ICNF’s responsibilities would mark a setback with significant consequences for the country.
The PAN and Livre parties have requested an urgent parliamentary hearing with the minister for further clarifications on the matter.
According to the State Budget proposal for 2026, the ICNF is set to receive 44.7 million euros for protected areas, fire prevention, and climate change initiatives.
The funds are also intended for land planning projects, climate adaptation, payments to forest fire-fighting teams, technical forest offices, and “common land associations.”
The allocation for 2026 is less than the current budget (53.2 million euros), which marked a doubling of the 2024 allocation.
The proposal also suggests the transfer of the ICNF, as a national forest authority, to local authorities under contracts existing or to be established within the Environmental Fund, though no specific financial allocation is stated.
It also proposes transfers from the ICNF “to competent entities, services, and organizations within the national defense sector to cover the costs associated with surveillance and fuel management actions in state-managed forest areas,” under protocols to be established within the Environmental Fund framework.
