Environmental confederation calls for 800 nature wardens in Portugal

The Portuguese Confederation of Environmental Defence Associations (CPADA) has approved a resolution urging the government to hire around 800 Nature Wardens, up from the 286 recorded at the ICNF in 2024, a ratio it says leaves each warden covering over 2,500 hectares. CPADA argues this shortage undermines fire prevention, monitoring and enforcement in protected areas. While welcoming recent recruitment drives and hiring authorised in the 2025 state budget, it says these fall short, and calls for an urgent overhaul of a career structure unchanged for more than two decades, alongside better pay, conditions and equipment for the ICNF.