The Lagoa dos Salgados Participatory Movement has already made available, on the Almargem association's website, the PDF of the text that can be copied or adapted by all those who want to participate in the two public consultations referring to the mega tourist project planned for the Silvese bank of that wetland, which ends the day after tomorrow, the 18th of February.
The Suggested Opinion of the Public Consultation may be downloaded here, in PDF format. Due to the maximum character limitation of the Participa.pt platform, anyone who wants to use the entire draft must submit it as an attachment in PDF.
Anabela Santos, from Almargem, points out: «follow our suggestion for a Public Consultation Opinion. Get inspired, copy, change, but participate!». The deadline ends next Friday, the 18th.
The planned mega-development comprises three hotel establishments and two tourist villages, a SPA, gym and indoor swimming pool, three outdoor swimming pools, two restaurants, a bar-lounge with a terrace and a commercial lot, and a golf course.
In the Opinion's suggestion, the Participatory Movement emphasizes that the area of implementation of the tourist enterprise, which is now being the target of this process of analysis of its Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project (RECAPE), «overlaps in its entirety the area planned for the creation of the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve, as a nationally protected area, according to a proposal by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), in a public consultation which took place between 9 December and 20 January last.
The current simultaneous presentation for consideration in Public Consultation of two RECAPEs for the same project is considered as «incomprehensible, since the UE1 must be evaluated as a whole».
“Only in this way can its final and cumulative impact be appreciated in an ecologically very sensitive area. It should also be noted that the implementation of the UE1 of the Praia Grande PP, consisting of infrastructure and hotel developments in this area, will result in the ineffectiveness of the recent proposal for classification of the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve, by the ICNF, namely in its conservation objectives. and preservation of flora and fauna biodiversity, as well as important priority habitats», adds the text.
«For the reasons mentioned above, we understand that the RECAPE under consideration will be considered Non-Compliant, namely until the process of designating the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve is completed, which will regulate the activities authorized, conditioned or prohibited in this location, taking into account taking into account the values present there', concludes the text of the suggested opinion.
The movement had already considered, in a statement, that the eventual approval of this project presents, therefore, «a huge impact on the unique values of what is one of the last natural strongholds of the southern Algarve coast, so it should be analyzed according to the context, challenges and current threats in this territory ».
Therefore, he called for “once again, civil society to make itself heard through strong informed participation”, informing that the aspects that have the most significant impacts on the territory are being compiled and that will soon be made available by the Movement.
The Lagoa dos Salgados Participatory Movement is made up of nine Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (Almargem, A Rocha, ANP|WWF, Vita Nativa, LPN, Quercus-ANCN, Portuguese Botany Society, Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds, ZERO), tourist entertainment companies and individual citizens.
Click here to know the RECAPE- Hotel B of UE1 of the Praia Grande PP and to be able to participate
here is the draft of Public Consultation Opinion, which you can copy or change:
(and deliver in PDF, in duplicate, at each of the two public consultations, don't forget):
RECAPE- Hotel B of the UE1 of the Praia Grande PP – https://participa.pt/pt/consulta/recape-hotel-b-daue1-do-pp-da-praia-grande
e
RECAPE of the Praia Grande PP UE1 Infrastructure Project –
https://participa.pt/pt/consulta/recape-do-projeto-das-infraestruturas-da-ue1-do-pp-da-praia-grande
«The Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project (RECAPE) under analysis, within the scope of UE1 of the Praia Grande Detail Plan (PP), aims to respond to the procedure for verifying the environmental compliance of the execution project with a Declaration of Favorable Impact Conditioned, dated October 30, 2013, for the implementation of the Praia Grande Detail Plan, which comprises three hotel establishments and two tourist villages, SPA, gym and indoor pool, 3 outdoor pools, 2 restaurants, bar-lounge with terrace and a commercial lot, and a golf course.
The area of implementation of this tourist development overlaps in its entirety with the area planned for the creation of the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve, as a protected area of national scope, according to a proposal by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), in public consultation. between 09-12-2021 and 20-01-2022. This ICNF proposal finally responded to the need to protect the two wetlands, Lagoa dos Salgados and Foz de Alcantarilha, and the extensive agricultural area between them. This proposal recognizes the high ecological importance and valuable biodiversity of this place, as well as the need to ensure adequate management of a place of high sensitivity, to ensure the environmental quality of the region, and that the important ecological functions
of the ecosystems present here are performed at maximum capacity.
There are several species at risk of extinction, such as the algarvian linaria, an endemic species of the Algarve region, and with a significant part of its population in the area under assessment. In addition to this species, the proposed area includes 12 natural and semi-natural habitats listed in Decree-Law nº 49/2005, and another 12 species of RELAPE flora (Rare, Endemic, Localized, Threatened or Endangered). The site is important for numerous bird species and is also of high historical, cultural and agricultural interest, as recognized in the proposal to create the Reserve.
On July 13, 2018, a declaration of Environmental Non-Conformity was issued for this same project, following an unfavorable opinion from the ICNF, focusing on measure 15-A, proposed in the previous RECAPE phase for “Prospecting aimed at detecting the species algarvian linaria in the area covered by the Praia Grande PP at its flowering season”, and if specimens of the species were detected, possible measures should be considered, and land mobilization should not be carried out until their occurrence is delimited. The ICNF opinion highlights the existence of the species in the Praia Grande PP project area, in dense population centers ranging from several hundred to a few thousand individuals, and the inexistence of measures for its preservation, not responding to the planned measure 15-A. on the DAY.
The importance that this area has for the Algarve Linaria is confirmed by “Annex 4.4_RECAPE do Hotel B_Relatorio_SPB_2020 + Cartas”, which states that “The data collected in this work together with the base data that served for the evaluation of algarvian linaria according to the IUCN criteria1, they indicate that the population center of Praia Grande is very important for the maintenance of the viability of this Portuguese endemism in the long term, because, cumulatively: a) this nucleus has a very significant population, among the largest in the Western Algarve; b) it is probably the largest nucleus, in occupied area, in this region, being one of the few places where the plant forms almost continuous patches over an extensive area (22 hectares); c) its extension, continuity and high population size give it a great potential for long-term viability in terms of population, as it is less susceptible to decline in the face of threats; d) pressures and threats on a significant part of other smaller population centers that are located outside of
Protected Areas mean that this Praia Grande nucleus may be one of the few places in Barlavento where it is still possible to guarantee the species' long-term conservation; and e) its location close to the eastern end of the world distribution area, together with what is said in the previous points, makes it a very important nucleus to avoid the future contraction of the species' worldwide occurrence extent.”. The pressure, destruction and/or fragmentation of this area, in addition to jeopardizing the algarvian linaria, also calls into question its ecological function and its relationship with other wetlands, both protected and unprotected, on the Algarve coast, its connectivity and its role as a biodiversity corridor.
The current simultaneous presentation for consideration in Public Consultation of two RECAPEs for the same project is incomprehensible, as UE1 must be evaluated as a whole. This is the only way to appreciate its final and cumulative impact in an ecologically very sensitive area. It should also be noted that the implementation of the UE1 of the Praia Grande PP, consisting of infrastructure and hotel developments in this area, will result in the ineffectiveness of the recent proposal for classification of the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve, by the ICNF, namely in its conservation objectives. and preservation of flora and fauna biodiversity, as well as important priority habitats.
For the reasons mentioned above, we understand that the RECAPE under consideration is given as Non-Compliant, namely until the process of designating the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve is completed, which will regulate the activities authorized, conditioned or prohibited in this place, taking into account the values present there.»
Instructions for placing your position on the Participa.pt portal:
(note: the second image explains how to register, but then follow the instructions in the first image to attach a file)
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