Don’t delay to have your say! Deadline is Jan 20th

You may remember an article we wrote here at the beginning of last month regarding Salgados – in brief, it’s a 400 hectare site in between Armação da Pera and Galé that is one of the last untouched coastal strips in the Algarve. 

For over 20 years a dedicated collection of activists have been fighting hard to keep it in its pristine state for the benefit of Nature enthusiasts and future generations. 

These activists have been opposed by a succession of developers anxious to capitalise on its unique location and turn it into a quick buck for themselves at the expense of everyone else. 

It has been a classic case of activists David and developers Goliath, as the activists have had no funding to speak of while the developers have not only had sufficient funding but the ear of successive local and national politicians. 

Ten years ago it was pretty well a done deal with Silves Câmara fully behind the development and hosting meetings at which the public were allowed to be present but were forbidden from asking questions or voicing their concerns. 

The bulldozers were moving onto site and it really looked like there was no stopping them – but then a spanner was thrown into the works when an online petition, (started by local Birding Guide and long-time resident Frank McClintock of www.birdinginportugal.com, catalysed the unease with which Joe Public viewed the manner in which elected officials were sidelining their constituents concerns. 

This petition turned out to be the second largest environmental petition in Portugal’s history and on the strength of it Almargem and SPEA, challenged the developer’s Environmental Impact Assessment and planning permission in court. 

This, along with an economic downturn, bought time and, behind the scenes the fight continued – until just a few weeks ago when the ICNF published their appreciation of the site and floated the idea that the whole 400 hectares be turned into a Nature Reserve – the first new Nature Reserve in this country for over 20 years. 

This is a game-changer. The ICNF is a branch of the Government and, as such, shows a complete volte-face from their previous position.

The ICNF’s suggestion is open for public consultation, but it’s only open until 20th January.

Remember, back in 2012, we, the ordinary public, were not allowed to have any say whatsoever regarding the plans for these 400 hectares. 

We were told what was going to happen and that was the end of it. 

Now there’s a completely different stance being shown by both Silves Câmara and the national Government and we MUST make the most of it. Anyone, yes, anyone in any language, resident or not, has the chance to have their say. 

We must take this opportunity to show how much we care, and, if you haven’t done so already, we urge you to take this once-in-a-lifetime chance to shape a little bit of the Algarve for future generations.

The choices are stark.

1) The developers want to see another golf course, (to add to the 40+ we already have in the Algarve), more hotels, (to add to the present hospitality crisis), more villa complexes, (for more absentee owners), and access cut to the beach. 

2) The local activists want to have this green lung open to everyone to enjoy. 

To have your say – remember we’ve only got until 20th January – go online and make your voice heard.

It takes 6 minutes, and is very easy if you follow these directions … 

1. Go to www.participa.pt
2. Click on “Registo” in the top right hand corner.
3. Click “Individual”
4. Fill in your name, (where it says “Nome”), your email address, choose a password, (minimum 12 characters but no need for capital letters, numbers or special characters), confirm your password and choose “Silves” in the following box “Concelho”.
5. Go to bottom left corner and check the box that starts ‘Concordo…’
6. No need to fill in anything else on that page; just click “Submeter” in the bottom right corner.
7. Close down the page – you’ll open it again in a minute, but close it for the time being.
8. The Portal Participa site will send you an email straight away. Open it and click on the highlighted ‘Ativação de Registo’  link.
9. This’ll open up www.participa.pt again on a login page but DON’t use it. Just close the page completely and then open it up again by typing in www.participa.pt in your browser.
10. Now click “Login” in the top right hand corner.
11. In the search box enter “Salgados” and hit the magnifying glass.
12. Click on the big ICNF logo.
13. Scroll down and click “Participar” on the left hand side below the text.
14. Choose “Outro”
15. In the following option choose both boxes .
16. Choose “Outro” in the last option.
17. Now it is ESSENTIAL that you write something otherwise the next option doesn’t open.
18. Click just below the word “Participação” and a box’ll open up in which you can write how much you value Salgados, how it’s wonderful that Portugal is looking towards the future and has its eyes on more than short-term profit for big business, how having natural spaces is so necessary nowadays and how pleased you are that this is now being valued by Portugal’s politicians for both Portugal’s citizens and its visitors etc etc 
19. Now click on “Submeter” at the bottom of the page – NOT “Submeter anexo”.

Oh, and why not sign the original petition as well? It’s still open and the more the merrier! CLICK HERE to sign the petition.

The rarely seen Water Rail…

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