The national program supporting villages located in forest areas is currently implementing three projects in Tábua—Aldeia do Fontão, Senhor da Serra, and São João da Boa Vista, the latter in collaboration with the Intermunicipal Community of the Coimbra Region—and will add seven new interventions across five parishes.
“This project is of utmost importance because it prepares and builds resilience in the villages. With these additional seven village condominiums added to those already in place, we almost cover the entire territory and villages with protective measures,” said Ricardo Cruz, the Mayor of Tábua, to Lusa news agency today.
An investment of 200,000 euros aims at the integrated and sustainable management of forest and rural areas. This involves actions like controlling invasive species, reforesting and restoring plantings with native species, and their maintenance over five years. The focus will be on Vale de Gaios, Santo Amaro, and Vila do Mato in the parish of Midões, Vale de Ovelha (Carapinha), Mancelos-Barrosa (Tábua), Santo Antão (Sinde), and Covas in the Union of Parishes of Covas and Vila Nova de Oliveirinha, covering a total area of 136 hectares.
“We are creating here a protective resilience for populations that places us at a high level. Each of us, citizens, will always have the responsibility to continue protecting our territories,” noted Ricardo Cruz.
The mayor emphasized that the project targets locations “where many people live” and that Tábua, “as a whole, is not losing population.”
“We have worked extensively to retain population. We are now presenting more affordable rental projects, contributing to equipping parishes so that people do not have to leave. By almost covering the territory with Village Condominiums, it adds value to our strategy for population retention because it brings more security to people,” Ricardo Cruz highlighted.
“This doesn’t solve everything, but it’s another step and stage that decisively contributes to preventing forest fires. We all say we need to prevent, and that’s what we are doing,” he added.
In addition to these projects aimed at the safety and resilience of villages, Ricardo Cruz reminded that during the current term, the local government implemented a municipal Civil Protection center, doubled the permanent intervention teams of firefighters at the council seat and Vila Nova de Oliveirinha (contributing 50% of salaries), and proceeds with clearing of fuel management strips and awareness actions in collaboration with the GNR to sensitize landowners towards land clearing.
“We are engaged in very serious work that we believe might bear fruit in terms of capacity, prevention, and resilience, ensuring that, by working together, we are prepared for the forest fire issue well before summer arrives,” the mayor stated.
The mayor also highlighted the involvement of the population in these Village Condominium projects, noting that the reforestation actions mainly focus on private lands, where owners who might plant eucalyptus for some profitability chose native species instead, which provide different returns according to Ricardo Cruz.
“We must value this, even though there were some doubts and clarifications needed, overall, we have to commend the involvement of private individuals in accepting the Condominiums,” he affirmed.
The presentation session for the seven new Village Condominiums in Tábua is scheduled for Friday at 10:00 AM at the Town Hall.
