The power of persistence is paying off as the Save Alagoas Brancas environmental group is to have its voice heard in parliament.Left Bloc MPs now are to demand that the government stops Continente building a supermarket on the wetland bird sanctuary in Lagoa and that the site is reclassified and properly protected.
The Bloquistas are presenting a formal parliamentary petition to stop the freshwater area being filled in and built on by the supermarket group that steadfastly has refused to enter into any dialogue, despite purporting to be consumer focussed and environmentally attuned.
The Left Bloc move, driven by local MP Joao Vasconcelos, certainly is a big step forward in obtaining protection for the valuable wetland site but the party's resolution is by no means certain to succeed.
At the start of February, Socialist Party MPs in the Algarve submitted a wetland protection bill to register and preserve sites in Lagos, Loulé, Silves and Albufeira, notably leaving out Alagoas Brancas.
The MPs said that "despite their ecological, aesthetic and cultural importance, these wetlands have been considered as marginal territories that should be transformed into dry land," and that the Algarve "has a diverse set of coastal wetlands of richness and ecological importance."
All well and good, but Portugal’s Institute of Nature and Forestry already has issued an opinion stating that Alagoas Brancas 'is not wet all year round and is too small to warrant protection.'
All well and good, but Portugal’s Institute of Nature and Forestry already has issued an opinion stating that Alagoas Brancas 'is not wet all year round and is too small to warrant protection.'
The main problem is that the area was marked down for building land in the council’s all-important municipal plan which, says the mayor, went through without anyone creating a fuss.
An additional problem is the cursory and damning opinion of the Institute of Nature and Forestry. An in depth and unbiased study needs to be produced, something the Left Bloc demands and something the environment minister already has asked for.
For a small group of concerned nature and bird lovers, united under the 'Save Alagoas Brancas' campaign heading, the progress that this formal petition to parliament represents is nothing short of remarkable and is a credit to their persistence and care for the environment.
