Decree-Law No. 43/2019 creating the Institute for Nature and Forest Protection (ICNF, I.P.).

This Decree-Law, consisting of 18 articles, creates the Institute for Nature and Forest Protection (ICNF, I.P.). It establishes composition, duties and resposibilities of this Institute, as a public entity of special regime, endowed with administrative and financial autonomy. The ICNF, I.P., continues the perform attributions of the governmental environmental and forestry sectors, under the respective members of the Government. ICNF, I.P. is the national authority for nature and biodiversity conservation and the national forest authority. Its mission aims at proposing and implementing integrated land use planning and management policies, in coordination with public and private entities, in the areas of nature conservation, biodiversity, forests and forestry competitiveness, and ensuring the coordination over prevention and management of rural fires. In particular, the Institution at implementing the National Strategy for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity, the National Strategy for Forests and the National Programme of Action to Combat Desertification as well as the National Plan of Integrated Management of Rural Fire, in articulation with public and private entities.