“One of the greatest legacies that JF sustains is that of concern for the region and its future, never resigning itself to accepting, as certain, the weak collective condition as a supposed curse, imposed by interiority”, said Nuno Francisco, director of JF, at the opening of the Beira Interior Days that took place, on the 15th, in Alcaide, integrated in the “Míscaros – Mushroom Festival”, under the theme “Agriculture, Forest and Energy”. Here, there is fertile land to plant the future. There always has been and will continue to be. But for this to happen, we need that driving force that goes through a development strategy for these territories, providing them with conditions so that we can fulfill our obligations”, he added, assuring that the JF “will never give up its DNA, which has made it a reference publication in the Portuguese press”. The Mayor of Fundão, Paulo Fernandes, underlined the interest of the days as “an event for the construction of knowledge and sharing of information” and noted that the Chamber of Fundão is preparing to create a demarcated area of wild mushrooms in Gardunha to preserve and enhance this complement to the income of families, helping, at the same time, to protect the mountain range from fires. Fernando Martins, director of the Agriculture and Fisheries Unit of the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development of the Center (CCDRC), congratulated the JF for honoring the legacy of commitment to the region, promoting these days, then making it known that the CCDRC has at its disposal a set of instruments that will be made available for agricultural production to find the essential financing routes for its modernization. The first panel of the conference was dedicated to “Forest, Profitability and Planning”, and was moderated by Celestino Almeida, coordinating professor of the IPCB Agrarian School. From Pinus Verde, Marisa Monsanto presented the body she chairs, giving an account of the 26 years of life of this non-profit association, which promotes forestry and rural development. “It is a tool at the service of a community and a territory, it promotes the multiple uses of the forest and takes advantage of traditional knowledge, also promoting economic activities”, summarized the leader. Pedro Marques, responsible for the management of easement areas at REN – Rede Elétrica Nacional, spoke of the vast network of infrastructures and the electricity network, corresponding to a motorway, with the profile of the A1, between Lisbon and Dubai. Flávio Massano, mayor of Manteigas, encouraged the inhabitants of the region to be proud of the territory. “We do not resign ourselves and we do not give up”, he emphasized, criticizing that the management of the territory is done 200 or 300 kilometers away and the reigning bureaucracy, translated into programs, programs, acronyms, and separate things that are not understood. “Either we fight for ourselves, or no one cares,” he warned, encouraging joint work. In the same tone was the intervention of Luís Matias, promoter of the Pinhal Interior Revitalization Plan, who brought to mind the “civic shock” caused by the tragedy of the 2017 fires and criticized the Portuguese inability to plan for the future. “We are very good at creating strategic plans, but very bad at planning,” he stressed. “We must demonstrate that we know where we want to go, what we want to do, and how we are going to get there”, he noted, recalling that in Lisbon no one contributes a single euro for the preservation and conservation of environmental conditions or water quality, unlike what the Interior does. Also critical was Carlos Fonseca, a researcher in the area of ecology and conservation and CEO of Colab Forestwise. “The easiest thing is to be disbelievers and not believe in anything else because we can’t change. I am an optimist and I consider that the fact that we are here, at an event on valuing the forest, is proof that we must believe that it is possible”, he concluded. Learn more here
