"Since 2020, I can tell you that the amount that has already come in, in a very general way, is around 2.5 million [euros]", said Lieutenant-Colonel Ricardo Vaz Alves, from the management of the Nature and Environment Protection Service (Sepna) of the GNR. To understand what generated the 2.5 million euros collected, the officer explained that "we are talking about 140 euros for individuals and 800 euros for legal entities", for the minimum fine, allowing us to have "an idea of the number of proceedings" that had "a final decision to pay a fine, because that is not always the decision". "Sometimes there is a decision to reprimand, which is also legally admissible, a decision to file due to lack of evidence and also a decision to pay half of the amount, also depending on the severity, the process or even the resolution of the process itself, the good faith, in this case, of the resolution", he added. The fines provided for the lack of cleaning of forest and agricultural land, which must be carried out every year until April 30, can reach 5,000 euros for individuals and 25,000 for legal entities, values that vary according to the respective municipal council. According to data sent to Lusa, between 2018 and 2023, the GNR registered the greatest non-compliance with the cleaning of land, in decreasing order, in the districts of Santarém (4,131 offenses), Castelo Branco (2,816), Braga (2,660), Coimbra (2,061) and Aveiro (1,802). The districts with the lowest record of non-compliance with fuel management, in the same period, were Évora (215 fines), Bragança (295), Portalegre (375), Viana do Castelo (468) and Beja (756). The GNR totaled, from 2018 to 2023, 26,140 offenses for lack of cleaning of forest land and, from 2019 to last year, it registered 3,419 for burning and 1,359 for fires. This year, the inspection of land cleaning will only start on May 1. Taking into account the number of reports of lack of cleaning, between 2019 and 2023, in a first check, without fines, the GNR officers registered the highest number in the districts of Leiria (23,557), Santarém (11,786), Viseu (9,922), Castelo Branco (7,150) and Coimbra (7,701), and the lowest non-compliance in Évora (675), Porto (1,329), Portalegre (1,419), Beja (1,564) and Bragança (1,751). Stating that, after identifying the causes of the fires, "the use of fire is the biggest concern" and that "only burning and fires contribute to more than 35% of the fire occurrences in recent years", the GNR appeals to "an effort [by all] so that the reduction of fuel can be carried out using other alternative methods", such as "incorporation into the soil and biomass production, thus reducing the risk of generating occurrences". According to Ricardo Vaz Alves, precisely what continues to create the greatest pressure of all the causes of fire is "the use of burning and fires" and "there is still great difficulty in identifying alternative methods" for the management of forest residues. "In this sense, we are currently in very intensive communication, I am not saying [for] abolition, because fire will always exist, but at least to adapt behaviors and the treatment of forest residues by other means, other than burning and fires, whether through incorporation into the soil or through sale to biomass plants or to 'pellet' transformation plants", he stressed. The Sepna officer pointed out that in the reports, in a first passage through the land, there is still no place for an infraction, and only in the second passage for verification of these first situations, from May 1, will the offense be registered. The GNR officer acknowledged that it will not be possible to carry out the verification in all locations on May 1, but that the action will be carried out according to the number of personnel and the dangerousness of the fire period, but that any change in the deadline is up to the legislative bodies. "Our focus is never the fine itself, our focus is always the safeguard of safety and the preservation of what are the minimum distance conditions from the building", stressed Ricardo Vaz Alves. The Sepna leader revealed that the GNR has already carried out "more than 10,000 reports" this year and believes that, by the end of the month, it may "reach 12,000 reports", "in line with 2023 and 2021". Read Also: Federation asks for more time to clean forest land (Portuguese version)