Why?

Forest fires have caused enough damage in Portugal and around the world. It is time to solve the problem instead of sitting it out. Solving the climate crisis also means building resilience (including resistance).

In Portugal, I became very familiar with fire. In September 2003, I was about to put out a fire. I had only taken a 5-litre bottle of drinking water with me for the day. There were then only two options, either run away or use the little bit of water to prevent the forest fire from starting. My T-shirt had already caught fire on the right sleeve and I had no other option but to put out the fire. Then a friend came back and brought another 5-litre bottle of water. We used it to put out the fire, which a neighbour had left alone because he wanted to burn the remains of bushes. Today we use a shredder and produce mulch.

1991, 2003, 2004, 2016, 2018 – I’ve survived five forest fires, which gave me an idea. We are in the process of planting a new botanical forest garden in Caldas de Monchique. And that’s when I thought to myself, I will only plant trees if I can protect them. So after the fire in 2018, I took a pen and a sheet of paper and drew my idea and the plan for a sprinkler system took shape. Every year in early summer, when it gets hot, the badly healed burn on my upper right arm bursts open and I can soothe it again with a little aloe vera. It always takes about a week for the new skin to grow.

Lightness and safety are two characteristics that now accompany me through this world. WetNet, the idea and plan that I drew on a piece of paper and that Jeremy Walton then put into practice for the first time in the Botanical Forest Garden of Caldas de Monchique, has recently become part of this. We’ve been working together ever since and WeNet was born and developed.

Why are we doing this? Because we can. Because we have remained curious and are always trying out new things. We make it rain the next time a forest fire comes to us and  wants to destroy the newly planted forest. We have built several cisterns in which we store the winter rainwater for the next summer. This provides us with extinguishing water for any forest fires. We are defying the climate crisis with ideas and creativity. In this way, WetNet has become our constant companion. We no longer let fire take us by surprise. We don’t give forest fires a chance. Why not join the team?

WetNet is intended for woodland plots with old or new valuable trees and houses of one hectare or more that need to be protected by sprinkler systems. We are now also able to think ‘big’. We can also protect communities and villages from burning down with WetNet. A water reservoir and at least a dozen sprinklers are required…

This post is also available in de_DE and pt_PT.