Statutory responsibilities (decree-law no. 12/2018)

Planning
  • Establishing national guidelines on designing policies and strategies for integrated rural fire management;
  • Issuing opinions, with corrective measures, on national plans and draft legislation for effective public policies;
  • Contributing to the design and implementation of financing instruments for investment in the integrated management of rural fires;
  • Issuing opinions on the annual budget proposals for the integrated rural fire management budget concerning its two components, rural fire management and rural fire protection.
  • Participating in the definition of a training plan for all entities that are part of the system, namely SIOPS (Integrated Protection and Relief Operations System), SGO (Operations Management System) and NOPS (Permanent Operational Standards);
  • Participating in the design of the training plan regarding the operational use of aerial support resources.
Strategic coordination
  • Coordinating the drafting, implementation and review of the National Plan for Integrated Wildland Fire Management (PNGIFR – Plano Nacional de Gestão Integrada de Fogos Rurais) focused on two action pillars, rural fire management and the protection of people and property against rural fires;
  • Setting annual prevention and burned area goals together with the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, disclosing them to the public;
  • Collaborating with SGIFR entities in the communication, information and awareness-raising strategy for the SGIFR;
  • Supporting the establishment of collaborative laboratories for the creation and development of the required specialised skills in Portugal and for the creation of qualified employment, as well as for the implementation of international best practices for sustainable forest planning and management and the prevention and suppression of forest fires;
  • Coordinating a group of experts with multidisciplinary skills, namely in the fields of meteorology, fire analysis, the use of aerial support resources, communications and decision support systems, and always including such experts when needed to tackle complex or high risk events;
  • Creating an AGIF pool of experts that can be mobilised for major relief operations.
Assessment of the SGIFR
  • Carrying out an annual overall evaluation of the system, including an assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of investments made in the SGIFR;
  • Carrying out an annual evaluation of the physical and financial performance of each component of the SGIFR;
  • Drawing up of the annual SGIFR activity report for submission to the government and the Assembly of the Republic.