The Chega resolution project, approved with abstentions from PSD, Iniciativa Liberal, and PCP, recommends to the Government “the effective safeguarding” of Alagoas Brancas, with a view to its eventual classification as a protected area.
The resolutions proposed by the parliamentary groups of PS and Bloco de Esquerda to safeguard and protect that important ecosystem were rejected by the plenary of the Assembly of the Republic.
According to Chega deputy Sandra Ribeiro, this wetland, covering approximately six hectares, “is home to more than 300 registered species of fauna and flora, including rare and threatened species” in Portugal.
The signatories of the draft resolution reiterate “the need for concrete measures that effectively and definitively ensure the protection, conservation and ecological enhancement” of this important ecosystem.
The Chega parliamentary group recommends that the public funding allocated through the Environmental Fund “translate into concrete results of protection and enhancement”, guaranteeing the fulfilment of the objectives for safeguarding its ecological values.
The PAN draft resolution, approved by a majority vote, with the PSD and CDS-PP voting against and the IL abstaining, recommends preparing and implementing a management and ecological recovery plan for the ecosystem, including adaptation instruments to climate change.
The sole PAN deputy, Inês de Sousa Real, defended the need to guarantee the classification of this protected area, so that “it can finally go from a threatened territory to an example of nature conservation in urban areas”.
In turn, the draft resolution from the Livre parliamentary group, approved by a majority of parliamentarians, recommends that the government “ensure a technical project” involving civil society organisations, environmentalists, and the local community.
The draft resolutions on safeguarding the Alagoas Brancas, in the municipality of Lagoa, in the Algarve, are now referred to the 11th Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Energy for specialised discussion.
The Alagoas Brancas are a freshwater wetland within an alluvial aquifer, home to approximately 300 recorded species of fauna and flora, including 146 species of birds, and also functioning as a rainwater retention basin, protecting the city of Lagoa against floods and inundations.
The ecosystem is part of the National Ecological Reserve (REN) and has been the target of strong civic protection to prevent its destruction by urban projects, especially a proposed commercial development, which has generated strong resistance from civic movements and environmental associations.