Pujol Geli, Xavier

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

F O R E S T  FIRES,  E R O S I O N  AND 
A Q U I F E R  CONTAMINATION 
IN THE P A ~ S  VALENCIA 
OVER THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, THE PAÍS VALENCIA, ALONG WITH OTHER 
MEDITERRANEAN REAS, HAS SUFFERED AN AGGRAVATION OF ITS SPECIFIC 
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS , WHOSE ORIGIN IS CLIMATIC AND ANTHROPIC . 
HOWEVER, THREE OF THESE PROBLEMS HAVE LOCALLY BECOME MORE SERIOUS 
THAN IN NEIGHBOURING AREAS AND ARE HARDLY REVERSIBLE ON A HUMAN 
TIME SCALE. THESE PROBLEMS ARE FOREST FIRES, SOIL EROSION AND 
CONTAMINATION AND EXHAUSTION OF AOUIFERS . 
X A V l E R  P U J O 1  G E L 1  M E M B E R  O F  A C C I ~  E C O L O G I S T A  A G R ~ .  A S S O C I A T I O N  F O R  T H E  D E F E N C E  A N D  S T U D Y  
O F  N A T U R E  I N  T H E  P A ~ S  V A L E N C I A  
I orest fires have been a centre of the south. The annual rainfall over most Forest fires, of course, are a characteris- attention for the media on ac- of the area is sufficient (between 350 and tic of this sort of climate. However, in the count of their spectacular nature 600 mm), but subject to the marked sea- last fifteen years the figures for fires and 
and the toll they so often take in human sonal differences typical of Mediterra- surface area burnt have shot up far 
lives. The geographical conditions of the nean climates: a harsh drought in sum- above the natural capacity for regenera- 
País Valencia allow for the existente of mer followed by heavy downpours in tion. It is therefore important to stress 
a considerable tree coverage, except in autumn. . that today's fires are by no means a nat- 
uraE occurrence. Since 1978, an average 
of 30,000 hectares have been burnt every 
year. On the basis of the conservative es- 
timate tlrat 50% are in woodland areas 
(the rest being areas of scrub and bushes) 
and bearing in mind that at present 13% 
af the Valencia tenitory (which has a to- 
tal of 23,000 square kilometres) is stiU 
covered by woods, we can see that in a 
similar space of time the tree cover will 
have disapp,eared almost completely. 
There has been a spectacular increase in 
preventive and fire-fighting measures. Fi- 
nancial investmeat and human resources 
have been multiplied by twenty, which 
has not avoided disheartening results. 
The surface area burnt in 1994 broke ali 
records. 
To make prevention effective it is essen- 
tia1 that we find the causes of fires. It 
seems obvious that, without discounting 
other causes, the great majmity have an 
involuntary anthropic origin. Depopula- 
tion of the countryside makes it more dif- 
fioult to detect fires and extinguish them 
in the first moments, when specialized 
equipment can stop them short. Over- 
grown farmland makes it easier far the 
fire -to leap from one patch of trees to 
another, so that small focuses of fire be- 
come a wall of flame tens of kilometres 
long. Furthermore, a growing number of 
city-dwellers go out into the countryside 
in search of leisure areas that are not to 
be found in the cities. Ignorance and in- 
c W t y  have catastrophic consequences. 
The frequent public awareness cam- 
paigns have not managed to eliminate 
carelessness, although they have man- 
aged to spread a vague concem for our 
natural surrmndings amongst the pub- 
lic. Finally, the progressive substitution 
of fire-resistant species by other more 
pyrophonc (resinous) species so as to 
obtain an illusory commercial profit has 
left our forests extraordinarily combust- 
ible and fragiíe. 
Public opinion, shaken by the impact of 
the ñres, is inclined to applaud drastic in- 
terventions directed at preventing fires 
and regenerating the countryside. But we 
have reached such a state of fragiiity that 
the last thing we need are impetuous 
short-term interventions. Cleaning the 
undergrowth or opening fire-breas, for 
example, has little effect in preventing 
the fiames from spreading, and on the 
other hand it seriously damages the 
vegetation it is supposed to protect. The 
only rational form of prevention is to try 
and avoid the causes of fires; and as the 
majonty are of hirman origin, there is 
room to hope that we can stop the pro- 
cess. 
In particular, cleaning the undergrowth 
should be discaded out of hand, as it re- 
duces the wealth and diversity of ecosys- 
tems. The same goes for opening new 
paths for wheeled transport (remember 
that most fires grow from an initial 
roadside spark). On the other hand, the 
wealth of a wood -measured in diver- 
sity- automatically reduces likelihood of 
its buming. Fire-breaks not only fail to 
prevent a blaze from spreading, they also 
spoil the look of the countryside and fa- 
vour erosion. 
What is needed is a tightly woven on-the- 
spot surveillance network, covering the 
countryside and forming the first step in 
the rapid intervention teams. Initiatives 
of this sort have been put into operation 
with the collaboration of volunteers and 
have had quite qcouraging results. The 
financial cost is not exorbitant. Modern 
methods of extinction and the profession- 
al firefighting equipment available is far 
from ideal. In spite of the increased bud- 
get allowances, there are still serious 
shortages and when fires proliferate it's 
clear that they are not enough. Ecologist 
groups have asked over and over again 
(SO far without results) for a ngorous reck- 
oning of al1 the means of prevention 
and extinction, in view of their obvious 
inefficacy as demonstrated in recent 
years. 
Even so, long-term measures are the only 
hope of avoiding being permanently sub- 
jected to the dangers of fire, and even 
more so if forecasts of climatic change 
are confmed. We need varied and far- 
reaching public awareness campaigns, 
starting in schools and getting to al1 the 
rural sectors. Development policies in 
country areas must in some way reward 
conservation and improvement of the 
biomass. Inhabitants of these areas must 
be the first to benefit from forest main- 
tenance -in every sense, including an im- 
mediate financia1 return. The work of 
protection and regeneration -non-ag- 
gressive, approached from the point of 
view of the temtory as a whole and with- 
out electoralist haste- provides ample 
opportunities for job creation. 
The most serious long-term effect of 
fires is undoubtedly the loss of soil. The 
concentration of rainfall in heavy autumn 
downpours -after the summer fires- 
leads to large quantities of surface soil 
being washed away. The fertile layer in 
which the vegetation takes root disap- 
pears. Since the slopes are steep over a 
large part of the territory and the soil is 
not compacted, losses are very high. Bare 
landscapes crossed by deep furrows and 
gullies are becoming more and more 
comrnon. In many places, abandoned 
farmland of no further use for farming 
quickly deteriorates and adds to soil loss. 
In 1975, the FA0 included almost the 
whole of the País Valencia amongst 
areas of very high risk of desertification. 
In part, that risk has now become a real- 
ity. Today, 29% of the territory of Valen- 
cia shows a leve1 of soil erosion that is 
high, very high or extreme; 26%, mod- 
erate, and 5%, slight. Unlike the case of 
fires, recovery is impossible once sur- 
face erosion has taken place. In fact, fire 
prevention policies and the fight against 
erosion are two sides to the same coin. 
Erosion and the loss of plant cover make 
it more difficult for aquifers to build up 
again, as they increase the surface flow 
and reduce filtration. 
Intensive agriculture -with irrigation- 
and tourism play a large part in the econ- 
omy of the País Valencia. Both these sec- 
tors are intense water consumers. When 
the possibilities offered by surface water 
courses became exhausted, some years 
ago now, many regions had to resort to 
underground water. Intensive irrigated 
agriculture makes excessive use of ni- 
trogenous fertilizers, with the result that, 
due to percolation, the underground aqui- 
fers are contaminated by nitrates. Where 
watering makes use of underground wa- 
ter, which already contains large amounts 
of nitrates, there is an accumulated con- 
tamination. Many towns which a few 
years ago drew good-quality drinking 
water from local wells now have to go 
further and further afield in their search 
for supplies, since the aquifers have been 
exhausted or the quality of the water is 
so low that it is not fit for human con- 
sumption. Even so, in many places the 
shortage means that water has to be sup- 
plied via the public system with intole- 
rably high levels of nitrates. Almost 100 
towns use water with a nitrate content of 
more than 50mg/litre, well above the re- 
commendations of the WHO. Much mar- 
ket garden produce (frequent elements in 
the local diet) show concentrations of up 
to 1,000 parts per million. 
Changing deeply rooted farming habits 
and techniques is obviously difficult. Nev- 
ertheless, Valencia has traditionally been 
at the forefront of technical advances and 
shows a very considerable ability to 
adapt to the requirements of the market. 
The new demands of consumers as re- 
gards healthier food could have a posi- 
tive influence in reducing the use of 
chemical products. Similarly, accepting 
the objective limits to the growth of the 
tourist sector could in future ease the 
pressure on water resources, without 
forgetting a more realistic price policy 
than the current one, which fails to pen- 
alize excess consumption. 
In certain coastal areas, the drop in the 
water-table as a result of overconsump- 
tion has led to the intrusion of sea water. 
Both chemical contamination and salini- 
zation require periods of tens of years be- 
fore the aquifers can recover, assuming a 
stop is put to current abuse, something 
which shows no signs of taking place yet. 
When things get as serious as the state of 
affairs facing us now, the problems be- 
come interwoven and the situation is ag- 
gravated. Only through a global ap- 
proach to land management and by fit- 
ting uses to possibilities and available 
resources can this trend be inverted. 


Forest Fires, Erosion and Aquifer Contamination in the País Valencià

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