The rePLANT project implemented new technological solutions to manage fire detection in the Parque das Serras do Porto.
Last Monday, May 15th, more than five thousand hectares, about 85% of the Parque das Serras do Porto, was covered by four optical cameras with a range of ten kilometers and able to detect fire even in “darkness”.
The equipments were presented, in Paredes, by two of the responsible for the technological project rePLANT, Carlos Fonseca, scientific and technological director of CoLAB ForestWISE, and Xavier Viegas, responsible for the project of the optical cameras and fire simulator, from the University of Coimbra.
The Mayor of Paredes, Alexandra Almeida, and also president of the Association of Parques das Serras do Porto, accompanied the presentation of rePLANT and said that “in addition to the four cameras installed were introduced more technological innovations, such as robots, which will clean the forest and mobile applications to manage the evolution of new species planted, which contribute to the grand design of putting the Park of the Mountains available to the population.
The mayor also pointed out that “it is fortunate to have three private companies, Sonae Arauco, REN and Navigator, which own part of the six thousand hectares of the Parque das Serras, with the same interests in the management of the territory”.
According to Carlos Fonseca, one of those responsible for the project, there are “four cameras that cover 5.1 thousand hectares, or 85% of the territory. These cameras have a range of ten kilometers and operate in 360 degrees 24 hours a day”.
The Porto Mountains Park is made up of six mountains (Santa Justa, Pias, Castiçal, Santa Iria, Flores and Banjas) and covers the municipalities of Gondomar, Paredes and Valongo, in the Porto Metropolitan Area, with an area of almost 6,000 hectares, an area that is now under the surveillance of the rePLANT project.
In, A Verdade, 16 May 2023 (PT)
