The Association of Professional Forestalists of Álava has warned of the "danger of extinction" posed by the action of the forest guard in the territory. There are currently eight surveillance guards throughout the country: six are permanent workers and two other temporary workers. The association has also denounced that the Member intends to "dismantle" temporary contracts, which means "a reduction in staff". "In 1991 there were twelve forest guards in Álava and the creation of two new places was called for in order to carry out the work correctly. If the situation is not resolved, as of April we will be half of the forest guards of 28 years ago."

The Association of Forest Guards explains that it is not possible to maintain and manage forests properly, since the excessively large land – some 50,000 hectares – is adapted to each forest ranger: "There are absurd situations; the forest guard of Aramaio, for example, has to monitor the area of Araia," he explained. In addition, in case of losing these two places, on weekends there will only be one person on call throughout the country.

As far as fisheries are concerned, forest guards have criticised management and surveillance being outsourced.

The association has insisted on the need for a structural solution to the problem, but has urged the Member to maintain these two seats: "We are calling for the renewal of the programmes while the jobs are recovering," he added.

This news was published by Arabako Aleak and we brought it to ARGIA thanks to the CC-by-sa license.