The Feitoria Fenícia Golf Course, in Silves, whose public consultation on the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) ended yesterday, will cause "further destruction of agricultural soils" and will affect "34 habitats in the full Natura 2000 network in the municipality", denounced the Quercus in a statement.
The environmental association stresses that, "in recent months", it has been carrying out "the analysis of various projects to be implemented in the Algarve region and continues to note the existence of a serious problem with regard to land use planning and compliance with the established legislation'.
This is because, stresses Quercus, «instead of adopting a development policy based on the balance between artificialized areas and natural ecosystems, favoring the maintenance of existing areas and the requalification of degraded areas, we continue to bet on the destruction of nuclear areas for the conservation of nature and the disconnection of ecological corridors and the fragmentation of the landscape, generating an environmental liability that, silently and gradually, will generate new expenses and increase the municipal debt».
Quercus: we continue to bet on the destruction of nuclear areas for the conservation of nature and on the disconnection of ecological corridors and on the fragmentation of the landscape, generating an environmental liability that, silently and gradually, will generate new expenses and increase the municipal debt
For this reason, and for the implications of the project in question, Quercus stresses “its indignation and displeasure with the announced intention to implement the project in an area classified as a Site of Community Importance Arade/Odelouca, as a National Agricultural Reserve (RAN), Reserve National Ecological (REN)'.
According to the EIA that was under public consultation – although available on the CCDRA website, this phase of public consultation was not properly publicized – the Golf Course project is promoted by Feitoria Fenícia – Investimentos Agropecuários e Turísticos Lda., headquartered in the municipality of Silves and owner of the land where the course is to be built.
The property is located in the Arade River basin, specifically on the banks of the Ribeira de Odelouca, a short distance from the city of Silves.
The project's promoter claims, for the implementation of the course, the need to «strengthen the offer of the golf sporting sector in the municipality of Silves, constituting an alternative to sun and beach tourism, countering the trend of vacancy in the interior of the country, in this case, the Barrocal/Serra Algarvia” and “the need to consolidate the Algarve as the main golf tourist destination in Europe”.
Quercus, after analyzing the documents made available in the context of the public consultation, says it has found that "this project will cause environmental impacts that far exceed the scenarios outlined in the EIA and the economic impacts resulting from its implementation".
Among the aspects that, in the opinion of environmentalists, «were not taken into account or are undervalued in the EIA», is the fact that the Study does not include an «alternative to the location of the golf course», as well as the «proximity of complexes destined for to the practice of golf – throughout the Algarve region there are already 37 golf courses, of which three are located in the municipality of Silves».
Quercus underlines that the project does not present "any study that addresses the possibility of moving towards an excess of supply that will compromise the viability of others that already exist".
On the other hand, he stresses, the land is delimited to the south by the Arade river, to the west by the Falacho and Almarjão streams and, to the east by the Caixa de Água ravine, which present «a regime of bidiry tides, with flow throughout the year. , which increases during periods of greater rainfall, being located in its entirety in a flood bed with risk to people and property».
Quercus: project does not present any study that addresses the possibility of moving towards an excess of golf courses that will compromise the viability of existing ones
In addition, “the project includes the construction of three water retention basins and, consequently, the destruction of the water line that crosses the property”.
An important fact that was "disregarded" in the EIA is the fact that the land is "in an area adjacent to the Querença-Silves aquifer, the impacts on this having been disregarded".
The project area (61,90 hectares) comprises almost entirely (55,82 hectares) the Site of Community Importance “Arade/Odelouca” of the Natura 2000 Network – which establishes the fundamental spaces for the Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity in Portugal , and, moreover, the land is also classified as RAN, which means that these soils are suitable for agricultural activity, where there are traces of recent plantations.
Quercus emphasizes that the EIA does not take into account that the RAN «is an instrument that establishes conditions for the non-agricultural use of land, which not only plays a fundamental role in the preservation of the soil resource, but also guarantees the existence of food production. in the event of a national emergency'.
But the land is classified as REN, which was created with the objective of «protecting natural resources, to safeguard processes that are essential for the good management of the territory and to favor the conservation of nature and biodiversity, essential components of our country's biophysical support. ».
The project will also promote, in the opinion of the association for the protection of the environment, the «change in the quality of water and soil, due to the use of fertilizers and pesticides».
On the other hand, in relation to the local economy, «the impact will be reduced, considering that the golf course has restaurant services in its facilities and there is still the possibility of building a hotel on the property, not enhancing the interconnection with the county seat that is in the vicinity».
Quercus also denounces that this Environmental Impact Study "is not impartial" and even has "several technical gaps", a situation that should not be oblivious to the "manifest conflict of interests that results from the fact that it is the same landscape architect who had the responsibility for designing the golf course to also coordinate the Environmental Impact Study, a situation that cannot occur, under penalty of perverting the environmental impact assessment processes».
In conclusion, Quercus reiterates the need «that the option to be adopted is the non-implementation of the project, that is, the zero option, as it is the one that guarantees the perpetuation of the region's environmental values and, in particular, the maintenance of biodiversity and the faunal and floristic values that led to the creation of the Sítio Arade/Odelouca within the scope of the Natura 2000 Network, giving this place a European protection status».
Strong impact on archaeological heritage
An aspect not addressed by Quercus in its analysis of the project is the impact of an eventual golf course and all the structures that accompany it on the archaeological heritage.
It is at least ironic that the name “Feitoria Fenícia” is based on the fact that, in Cerro da Rocha Branca, an area integrated in this property, it was situated between the 2500th and XNUMXnd centuries BC for thousands of years , that is, about XNUMX years ago, a probable Phoenician-Punic commercial village, perhaps the most remote origin of the current city of Silves, which would have existed after move a few hundred meters further upstream from the River Arade and born on another hill farther northeast.
In fact, Cerro da Rocha Branca is part of Silves' archaeological map and, as an archaeological site, it has a very troubled history. It is that, about 25 years ago, when this then important Phoenician village – where «Cyclopean» structures were discovered and Greek ceramics dated from the beginning of the XNUMXth century BC. Ç - was being subjected to excavations coordinated by the archaeologist Mário Varela Gomes, the landowners ordered heavy machinery to destroy the archaeological structures, allegedly to plant orange trees on that hill.
The case ended up in court, with the owners being sentenced to pay a sum of money – an almost unprecedented sanction at the time – as compensation for the destruction of the archaeological remains. The truth is that the investigators never returned to Cerro da Rocha Branca and the process of classifying the archaeological site was suspended because the work on the machines had even completely destroyed what was left of the possible Phoenician trading post… A case in which the “ crime”, in fact, pays off.
Cerro da Rocha Branca, an ancient Phoenician-Punic trading post that gives its name to the golf course, appears in Silves' archaeological map and, as an archaeological site, has a very troubled history.
In the Environmental Impact Study to which the Sul Informação had access, it is stated, in fact, that «during the archaeological study works, on the property under study, 9 archaeological occurrences were identified and recorded, where 3 rural couples were found (Tapada do Almarjão, Cerro da Rocha Branca 2, Cerro da Rocha Branca 3) 1 floodgate (Ribeiro do Almarjão), 1 well (Várzeas do Arade 1), 1 isolated finding (Várzeas do Arade 2) and 1 village (Cerro da Rocha Branca)».
In an area close to the project boundary, «two occurrences were also identified, the Moinho do Valentim, whose ruins rise between the Falacho stream and the Arade river and a set of millstones, about 2 of which are associated with the Valentim mill. , in limestone with a diameter of about 12 meter each”.
But let the most concerned minds rest: according to the EIA, with regard to heritage, “it is planned to restore the rural house in Tapada do Almarjão as a maintenance and support house and to create a strip of about 50 meters along the bank of the river Arade».
As for the use of water – an asset that is always very necessary when it comes to a golf course – the EIA says that “the project prioritizes the use of water from the Falacho sewage treatment plant for the irrigation of the golf course” .
However, as «its quality for this purpose is not yet guaranteed by the company Águas do Algarve», «in the first phase, the water that will be used for irrigation will come from the Arade Dam and will be supplied by the Association of Irrigants and Beneficiaries from Silves, Lagoa and Portimão. This property is already a beneficiary and member of this association, with defined water rights».
The EIA, as usual in these studies, also underlines the positive impacts on employment, guaranteeing that «several jobs will be created, which will be temporary during the construction phase of the field, with between 20 and 30 becoming workers. field staff after opening'.
In general, the project is presented as a salvation for that property, since, according to the EIA, «in the absence of the Feitoria Fenícia Golf Course Project, what is currently seen will happen, with the abandonment and degradation of the property under study . The abandonment of agriculture will continue, the continued grazing of cows and horses, and the increase in the deposit of plant residues at the site, which could increase the risk of fire. The property will continue without use and without any type of human use that allows the municipality of Silves to boost a quality tourist offer».
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