The Secretary of State for the Environment, Carlos Martins, has given the thumbs down to a proposal by Sifucel Sílicas SA to commence mining at Corte Pequena in the Monchique hills.
In a major victory for local environmental groups, many individuals and the fully supportive Monchique council under mayor Rui André, the environmental impact assessment, written by the applicant, was insufficient to outweigh the enormous ecological and social damage the mining operations were liable to trigger.
The land area in question is in a National Ecological Reserve and Natura 2000 area and thus covered by extensive environmental protection laws. This, the company knew when it started clearing land in February 2016 for feldspar exploration and possible mining.
Sifucel had tried it on late the year before when in October, the council and the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development, moved fast to shut down clearance work at the site, which recommenced within days.
Monchique council passed a motion in December 2015 against the exploration for feldspar at the area, citing issues over the disruption to essential public water supplies and to tourism.
The council’s stance was that no exploration should take place on the south of the Monchique mountain range as this is a valuable tourist area, attracting tens of thousands of people each year and bringing valuable income to the area.
Corporate lies uncovered - Sifucel did not help itself when it claimed that it was “replanting oak trees” showing the depth of deception at play and, as André pointed out at the time, the company would need a license for planting as well.
The decision by Secretary of State, Carlos Martins, to reject the mining application on environmental grounds shows the strength of the ecological and environmental argument as the government is pro-mining.
Happily, the government also is pro-tourism, a sector which shows quicker financial results, and the south facing slopes of the Monchique hills, at Corte Pequena anyway, will remain quiet and dust free.
For the Environmental Agency report, in Portuguese, click HERE
