Quercus (National Association for the Conservation of Nature) expressed yesterday, in a statement, its «indignation for the continuous environmental abuses and the maintenance of illegality» in the Ria Formosa Natural Park, against the backdrop of «the events of the past month of September on the island of Culatra, with the illegal construction of a heliport».
That association thus joins its voice to the Algarve Nucleus of the League for the Protection of Nature, who had also denounced the illegalities around that helipad, built by the populationWith the approval of official entities.
Quercus points out that «the barrier islands of the Ria Formosa Natural Park, such as the island of Culatra, are part of the public maritime domain, inalienable property of the Portuguese State, so the construction of the heliport could only be carried out with the authorization of the APA – Portuguese Environment Agency and that, therefore, this work was carried out illegally”.
"It is also regrettable the irresponsible behavior of some Portuguese political parties that took advantage of the situation with the intention of electoral propaganda for local authorities, even though they are aware that the construction of this structure is a work outside the law," adds the association.
According to Quercus, «this is also a case that demonstrates the total ineffectiveness of the political power and institutions of the Central Administration (ICNF – Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, APA – Portuguese Environment Agency, Portuguese Navy, Municipalities) that it has dragged on for many years, since almost all the constructions located on the barrier islands of the Ria Formosa Natural Park are of illegal origin».
The association recalls that there was an Action Plan for the Coast 2007-2013, which "precisely contemplated the eviction of some of the most critical areas of the coast, such as the Ria Formosa, but which practically never got off the ground."
In 2012, the current Government reformulated the previous Plan, given its low execution rate, and presented the Action Plan for the Valorization and Protection of the Coast 2012-2015.
«Although this Plan contemplates the execution of some actions within the scope of the Polis of Ria Formosa, such as dune and lagoon recovery, the issue of illegal occupation of sensitive areas, which is one of the causes of the degradation of Ria Formosa, is not even mentioned », stresses Quercus.
At a time when, “in view of the foreseeable effects of climate change (rising mean sea level, with more frequent ocean overtopping and with the accentuation of coastal erosion and the weakening of dune systems), the authorities should already be considering. serious and rigorous the possibility of immediately starting a program to vacate the two peninsulas and five barrier islands of the Natural Park, even if this meant compensating some citizens, we have witnessed manipulation attempts to perpetuate the maintenance of illegal constructions”, they add the environmentalists.
In view of this, considers Quercus, "the silence and the current perception that citizens have of the inertia of the authorities in the face of a problem of law enforcement in a part of the country, where criminal behavior of usurpation of real estate belonging to the Portuguese State is not correct, is unacceptable. there is any intervention to restore legality”.
Quercus therefore demands “a firm action by the police authorities and that the response includes from now on the beginning of a program for the renaturalization of the barrier islands that involves the removal of all buildings, as well as the relocation and compensation of the affected citizens who, demonstrably, reside and carry out their economic activity in the places to be intervened, since the maintenance of the current situation is the one that will cost the country and taxpayers more in the near future».
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