Roughly 120 tons of straw are to be shipped to the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira today to help local farmers who lost their pastures in the wildfires that devastated large parts of the islands in July.

The straw was donated by about 500 cereal farmers from mainland Portugal through a solidarity campaign organised by the Confederation of Portuguese Farmers (CAP).

“We have managed to collect all the straw the Madeira farmers asked for to tide them over the summer and until the pastures sprout again in just 10 days”, CAP President João Machado told reporters.

Around 400 fires swept across several parts of Madeira island three weeks ago causing critical damage in Funchal, Santa Cruz, Calheta, Ribeira Brava and Porto Moniz.

Some 50 homes were damaged, while dozens of vehicles and straw lofts were destroyed. leaving hundreds of animals and farms in a dire situation.