LISBON - Fires in Portugal have destroyed more than a fifth of the country's forests in the past decade, a researcher said on Thursday.
In one of the first studies on fires in Portugal, Pedro Vieira estimates that between 1995 and 2005 fires wiped out more than 700,000 hectares (1.73 million acres) of forests, leaving 2.5 million hectares (6.25 million acres). This was despite heavy investment in firefighting equipment, Vieira told Reuters, adding: "That means there are huge inefficiencies among firefighters."
Vieira's study is due to be published next week.
Last year, the worst droughts in Portugal's history sparked raging fires. Millions of euros worth of damage was done to Portugal's struggling agricultural sector.
Fires in 2003 were the worst on record and 2005 the second worst. Cooler and rainy weather has prompted hopes that there will be no repeat of those years this summer.
Vieira, a biophysics engineer and a former journalist, estimates Portugal is loosing 2 percent of its forests every year compared to 1 percent in Spain.