Landscape architects want to be part of the response to the devastation

The Portuguese Association of Landscape Architects calls for the availability of these professionals to collaborate in responding to the devastation caused by Storm Kristin, “a structural alert” about the urgency of transforming the way we plan, manage and care for the landscape.

In a statement, the Portuguese Association of Landscape Architects (APAP) considers that Kristin exposes “old structural weaknesses in the territory”.

“In addition to the immediate damage, the storm revealed underlying problems: inadequate forest management, excess fuel, lack of resilient landscape mosaics and weak integration of green infrastructure into the planning”, reads the statement.

For APAP, “recovery cannot be limited to replacing what fell. It requires ecological reconstruction, forest diversification, restoration of riparian galleries, reinforcement of urban afforestation adapted to the climate and landscape governance that anticipates risk”.

In this sense, it calls “in a clear and responsible way for the availability of landscape architects to collaborate with national, regional and local authorities in responding to the devastation”.

“This period requires effective institutional cooperation. Landscape architects have the skills to provide support to municipalities, the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDR), the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) and Civil Protection in the integrated analysis of the landscape, the restoration of natural systems, the requalification of public spaces and the redefinition of management models that promote greater resilience”, indicates the association.

Sixteen people died in Portugal following the passage of depressions Kristin, Leonardo and Marta, which also caused many hundreds of injuries and displacement.

The total or partial destruction of homes, businesses and equipment, the fall of trees and structures, the closure of roads, schools and transport services, and the cut of energy, water and communications, floods and floods are the main material consequences of the storm.

The Centro, Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and Alentejo regions are the most affected.

The Government declared a state of calamity until this Sunday (15) for 68 municipalities and announced support measures of up to R$2.5 billion.