NGOs blame eucalyptus and El Niño for worsening wildfire risk

The Environmental Paper Network and Quercus warn that eucalyptus monocultures are turning Portugal's landscape into a tinderbox, worsened this year by El Niño-driven droughts, extreme rainfall and heatwaves. They cite the Vouzela fire in July, which accounted for half of the national burnt area so far in 2026, as a symptom of decades of flawed forestry policy and pulp industry lobbying. The groups demand a moratorium on new eucalyptus planting, binding reduction targets by 2030, replacement with native species, a polluter-pays tax on the pulp and biomass industry, and payments for landowners maintaining native forest.