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When you make a study of the territóry that includes the EGTC Duero-Douro, you can note, among others, a number of weaknesses that make it a weak territory.
If we look at their population, we observe that there is a low birth rate and therefore a percentage of reductively children aged between 0 and 14 years (8.30%) compared with the existing in Spain (14.40% ) And Portugal (15.30%). Moreover, we note that the percentage of population over 65 years (34.30%) practically doubled compared with that registered in the national territory of Spain (16.50%) and Portugal (17.60%). Similarly, it is important to highlight that the territory of the EGTC has seen a population decrease by approximately 9% between 2001 and 2008. Everything indicates that the current trend is the population aging and a gradual depopulation of the territory. The causes of this trend is the migration of young people to cities in search of better job opportunities, and lack of generational regeneration. To these factors can still join the reduction of the number of farms due to the abandonment of this activity, so positive from the environment point of view.
Everything described above is closely related to the problem of forest fires that devastate thousands of hectares every year. In most fires that affect this territory during the summer, it is easy to observe that along to forests and woodlands are often burn agricultural areas to, which once were, but are no longer, cultivated. In many cases there is a predominance of farmland or farmer agricultural lands that were burned, and in almost all cases, we can see, if we look closer at the data, that the existence of abandoned fields full of weeds, helps spreading the fire, leading to this large range.
The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Douro-Duero has echoed the negative consequences that has had the massive abandonment of farm land. Where once there were farms tended, carved, cleaned of weeds, which ended up acting as a natural firebreaks, today there are solid masses of vegetation, which during the long summer period become a perfect fuel for the flames, providing a continuity that facilitates the advancement of any uncontrolled fire.
The EGTC Duero-Douro endeavors on what it thinks to be the best policy for prevention, to encourage to a rural and care environment, demanding greater attention and official support,so that this population has a good standard of living. We can only stress that this support is far less than needed for fight fire, once it starts.
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In this context, the EGTC Duero-Douro, presented as a solution to this environmental and social problems : SELF-PREVENTION project. This project is based on the reintroduction of goats in the territory, as an effective measure to combat fires. Thus will be the goats that carry out the cleanliness of our fields, many of them abandoned, as a sustainable measure to eliminate much of the vegetable matter that now covers what was once land dedicated to agriculture or grazing.
Thus, the project SELF PREVENTION -deploys an innovative model of land management based on creating a system of local management of the cross-border municipal policies, which will assure the environmental management in the prevention of forests fires.
 SELF-PREVENTION will result in agro-food company , created under the legal form of a social investments management company, SA, with 51% of public participation and 49% private, and the populations can become a member (a) of the same, giving the project land for pasture or money. This brings a double benefit for the participants, who, besides contributing to the reduction of fires, are going to obtain the benefits associated with the company, depending on their lending of capital to it.
The company set will be based on a closed loop model , so as to ensure it’s profitability and sound economic management.
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