The Administrative and Tax Court of Loulé, in a decision of 1 July, upheld the injunction filed by the Arriba association, thus preventing the use of the herbicide glyphosate in the requalification works of Ribeira de Aljezur.
José Gonçalves, mayor of Aljezur, reacting to the announcement of this judicial decision, revealed to the Sul Informação that tomorrow, the 8th, the Municipality and the Portuguese Environment Agency will have a meeting precisely to «assess what will be done now».
“There are three hypotheses: we can continue the litigation, continue the litigation and move forward with the work that we can do or even drop the project and, with that, lose this candidacy”, explained the mayor.
This is because, underlined José Gonçalves, «this project is not just about starting the cane, it is much more than that».
In December of last year, the newly created Arriba – Associação de Defesa da Costa Vicentina, had filed the injunction in that Court, in order to stop the Ribeira de Aljezur Enhancement and Requalification Project, promoted by the local council and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), with funding of 200 thousand euros from the Environmental Fund.
According to Arriba, the main issue was the use of glyphosate, a herbicide associated with cancer, to eradicate sugarcane (arundo donax), an exotic and invasive species that has proliferated along the banks of that stream.
The decision of the Loulé Administrative and Tax Court orders «the municipality of Aljezur to abstain from carrying out» some of the work foreseen in that project, namely the application of the proposed systemic herbicide, containing glyphosate, as well as the cutting of the cane shoots «through heavy mechanical means, in particular excavators'.
According to a statement from the Arriba Association, the Court also considers that the project should have been submitted to a prior assessment (or preliminary verification) by the APA, to assess whether or not it would be necessary to submit it to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
This prior assessment by the APA should also take into account the opinion issued by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), since the Aljezur stream is located in the Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina Natural Park.
Arriba adds, in a press release, that "according to the court, regarding the use of the herbicide in question in this project, the implication of a risk ('albeit uncertain') compromising the conservation of the site was founded, given the relevance and doubts raised by recent scientific studies and public opinion, both with regard to its use in general and with regard to the impact on riparian areas (on fauna and flora), in particular».
“The ICNF itself questioned the conditions of application of this herbicide asking the CMA to present alternative approaches to the use of glyphosate. These alternatives were never presented by the Municipality and, even so, the start of the work was communicated», also stresses Arriba.
«Justice was heard and served citizens and the environment by opening doors to dialogue, transparency and good governance», commented João Vilela, president of Associação Arriba.
“We all want the best for our rivers, for the territory and for the environment. To wish otherwise is to wish evil for everyone. At a time when the word Sustainability is at the base of any discourse, let us not forget that this sustainability is only acquired in the long term, and is not a political victory in the short term. Our actions today guarantee the future we will leave for future generations”, he concluded.
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