10 objective reasons why Las Azucenas has never seen a fire.
Fires affect nearly 100 million hectares of forests every year on average, equivalent to 3% of global forest area. Fires are much less prevalent in privately owned forests due to the implementation of preventive management activities.
1. Our property's inland location ensures its verdant and moist state for most of the year - microclimate. Moisture makes it harder for fire to ignite.
2. In our microclimate, the wind is accompanied by rain-moist winds. Otherwise, we don’t experience dry gusts of wind. Winds can fan flames. Wind accompanied by rain acts as a fire retardant/extinguisher.
3. Year-round rain sustains a moist environment, rendering the area virtually fire-resistant.
4. Natural water streams traverse the land, maintaining humidity and drastically decreasing fire risk. Hardwoods thrive in areas where rain and moisture are prevalent.
5. Fire requires combustible matter in the form of dry biomass to feed from. We engage in periodic maintenance within the farm to eliminate combustible matter.
6. Our integrated fire management plan includes fire surveillance covering the four cardinal points of the farm.
7. Internal fire roads facilitate supervision and quicker response times in any event.
8. The neighboring fincas (agricultural estates), are overpopulated cattle ranches that lack biomass, minimizing the probability of fire originating next door.
9. Hardwood trees boast a significantly high ignition threshold, ranging between 300 to 425 degrees Celsius, rendering them almost impervious to forest fires.
10. Local hardwood species are so fire-resistant that they function as natural firebreaks, credited with preserving vast areas of forests, farms, wildlife, livestock, and residences.