Good-bye to Lagoa dos Salgados? (1 Viewer)

[pdedicoat]

This report this morning in the Algarve Daily News makes depressing reading.

That the Portuguese can allow this to happen at the same time as promoting birdwatching tourism shows how little they understand or care for their environment.

 

[Simon Wates]

Hmmm....Peter, this could be good news in disguise.

Portugal's Birdlife partner SPEA have "signed papers" with the company responsible for this development and have agreed a number of issues:

1. To respect a 500m buffer zone on the western shores of the lagoon (the eastern end has been a golf course for 20+ years).

2. They have donated the large ruin at the northern end to SPEA as a future reception centre.

3. There are still rumours that the site should become a SPA (ZPE), which would afford the highest legal protection.

4. Funding is supposed to available for SPEA/RSPB to carry out the management and habitat improvement plan that was completed a good while ago. This includes the water management and islands, reedbeds and more.

5. Also, infrastructures on site such as hides, screens and boardwalks to improve visitors experience.

According to a press release by Domingos Leitão (SPEA) a few days ago, the Salgados Golf course have been ordered to reduce their water usage (total ban on weekends) and the water authorities are supposed to be supplying treated water to the site these days in an attempt to raise levels urgently. (These are dangerously low for nesting birds at the moment).

Its been SUCH a dry winter!

Apparently, the company is keen on preserving the site as an attraction (what with all the Flamingos etc). Of course it would be better if there were no development at all - but maybe things could work out well????

 

[pdedicoat]

You really believe all that, Simon? I wish I could.

As for urgently raising the water level, how many nests will be flooded when this happens?

 

[Simon Wates]

Yes I do - I understand Portuguese and that is what I have quoted I am convinced that the developers understand the importance of the site - both aesthetically and financially.

I think the aim is to gradually raise water levels and maintain them at a level compatible with the recent nests....its not going to be easy but I know it has been given careful consideration.

Conservation in Portugal is pretty good in some respects really..we shouldn't really be shooting them down - bureaucracy is painfully slow here but the right input is ongoing by SPEA and the like and their voice is heeded more and more....

 

[pdedicoat]

Time will tell, Simon and, of course, I would like to think you're right to accept all those assurances. However, there are a lot of issues involved and this is not the place for you and I to be debating them.

 

[Pam_m]

Yes I do - I understand Portuguese and that is what I have quoted I am convinced that the developers understand the importance of the site - both aesthetically and financially.

I think the aim is to gradually raise water levels and maintain them at a level compatible with the recent nests....its not going to be easy but I know it has been given careful consideration.

Conservation in Portugal is pretty good in some respects really..we shouldn't really be shooting them down - bureaucracy is painfully slow here but the right input is ongoing by SPEA and the like and their voice is heeded more and more....

Time will tell I suppose Simon!

Do the Portuguese allow the public to view the plans, online etc? It would be good to see how far and wide this development will be.

 

[Simon Wates]

this is not the place for you and I to be debating them

Peter, not the place to debate what's going on at IBA Lagoa dos Salgados? I would have thought, that being one of the places in Portugal most revered by UK birders (the only site with an English name - Pera Marsh, even if its just a "coined" name) that quite few here would be interested.

I thought the title you wrote to be a little OTT as SPEA and the local councils involved in the site have been championing the place for years now - the water authorities, the state conservation body ICNB and other depts have all been around the table a number of times. It seems that the measures (such as the buffer zone) and the concept that the site is an advantage to tourism are well established amongst all stakeholders. This has been largely due to the ongoing efforts of the ONG's SPEA and Almargem, who in my opinion, have behaved competently and admirably in their quest.

Its not all roses I know and of course I for one would prefer no further development in the area. However, if the development does respect the 500m buffer zone and put at least some funding into site management I suspect that maybe its going to an improvement on the recent years where water levels etc. have been largely uncontrolled.

I think we should expect some kind of communication from SPEA soon as a response to this recent news. Lets not hurry them though as things often take forever here due to the necessity of getting so many stakeholders/interested parties together.

I just hope that the water levels are soon increased enough to improve things for all the breeding birds this season that soon look to be faced with a mass failed breeding as the last of the water evaporates.

As for many, this is a favourite site of mine, I visit almost weekly.

That the Portuguese can allow this to happen at the same time as promoting birdwatching tourism shows how little theyunderstand or care for their environment.

I could easily get into a wrangle here! I think that this statement is a little unfair - the Portuguese are not just one force, the bodies promoting conservation etc. are not the same ones that need convincing! I know its seem contradictory that on one hand birding tourism is being championed and on the other, not all is ideal - but its great that some effort is being made.

 

[Simon Wates]

Time will tell I suppose Simon!

Do the Portuguese allow the public to view the plans, online etc? It would be good to see how far and wide this development will be.

Hi Pam, yes, at some stage the plans should be available for public consultation. If I am not mistaken this would be for a limited period and would be at the local council offices - don't think there will be anything official online. Maybe someone will post something...

 

[Pam_m]

Hi Pam, yes, at some stage the plans should be available for public consultation. If I am not mistaken this would be for a limited period and would be at the local council offices - don't think there will be anything official online. Maybe someone will post something...

Hi Simon, thanks for your reply to my question.

A pity the water levels have once again dropped, I had thought this problem was a thing of the past. Lagoa dos Salgados is a special place and one I never tire of visiting several times when on holiday in Portugal.

 

[QBE]

This report this morning in the Algarve Daily News makes depressing reading.

That the Portuguese can allow this to happen at the same time as promoting birdwatching tourism shows how little they understand or care for their environment.

There is an on-line petition that anyone can sign to try to get this disgraceful decision rescinded at http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Sa...nized_birding_sanctuary_from_being_destroyed/

Please take the effort to do so - it only takes a second. Please also share the petition on Facebook and Twitter; together we can make a difference.

I have watched this area deteriorate over the last 20 years from somewhere that it was a joy to visit with a wealth of birds nesting to what it is now, a cynically destroyed barren lake.
During any of that period protection could have been afforded. To really believe the empty promises of an organisation that, even as I write this, is defending itself before a Parliamentary Commitee for Corruption, is wishful thinking of the highest order. This organisation doesn't even have the funds to pay the fines imposed on it for this corruption and is squirming before the Commitee saying it'll have to lay off 1,500 people if it is "forced" to pay ... If anyone really puts any faith in their word they're being a tad blind.
This is about money, and how much they can make. They don't have it right now and need investors ... So to get the latter they'll finish destroying Salgados with their new infrastructure and then, just like the 300 cork trees in the north, nothing will happen - but the final nail will have been driven through Salgados' heart.
SPEA have been bought off with their "visitor centre" - where's the money going to come from for that I wonder? It'll take a month of Sundays to sort that building out - and for what? It's even on the wrong side of the water! Anyone trying to bird from there will be looking straight into the sun throughout the day! Why isn't there a single hide there already?
No, what we will be left with is a sterile "gentrified" lagoon - regularly sprayed of course to keep any nasty biting bugs down. There will be some Coots, a Grebe or two, maybe a Little Tern and of course some Gulls, and just maybe a couple of Flamingos 'cos they look pretty, but the rest? Well, we certainly wont be seeing the Peregrines or Black-winged Kites, Purple Herons, Black Terns, Collared Pratincoles or any of the other myriad species that have made Salgados one of the jewels of Algarvian birding.
Just take a look at Quinta do Lago or Dunas Douradas along the coast and remember how rich they used to be - and what they are now!
We all know the continuous efforts made over the last ten years to destroy Salgados - how the sea wall used to be broken down on a regular basis to avoid flooding the golf course etc. That golf course is amazingly green at the moment, in stark contrast to the lagoon that is dry - and the hotel? Well that laid off all its staff earlier on this year and went into mothballs to ride out the crisis .... So we need MORE of them? If it wasn't so depressingly predictable it'd be laughable.
I'm all for keeping a stiff upper lip, being positive and carrying on regardless, but it makes me sad that anyone can be so blind as to see any bright side to this - shame on you Simon!

 

[Simon Wates]

There is an on-line petition that anyone can sign to try to get this disgraceful decision rescinded at http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Sa...nized_birding_sanctuary_from_being_destroyed/

Please take the effort to do so - it only takes a second. Please also share the petition on Facebook and Twitter; together we can make a difference.

I have watched this area deteriorate over the last 20 years from somewhere that it was a joy to visit with a wealth of birds nesting to what it is now, a cynically destroyed barren lake.

SPEA have been bought off with their "visitor centre" - where's the money going to come from for that I wonder? It'll take a month of Sundays to sort that building out - and for what? It's even on the wrong side of the water! Anyone trying to bird from there will be looking straight into the sun throughout the day! Why isn't there a single hide there already?

We all know the continuous efforts made over the last ten years to destroy Salgados - how the sea wall used to be broken down on a regular basis to avoid flooding the golf course etc. That golf course is amazingly green at the moment, in stark contrast to the lagoon that is dry - and the hotel? Well that laid off all its staff earlier on this year and went into mothballs to ride out the crisis .... So we need MORE of them? If it wasn't so depressingly predictable it'd be laughable.

I'm all for keeping a stiff upper lip, being positive and carrying on regardless, but it makes me sad that anyone can be so blind as to see any bright side to this - shame on you Simon!

Of course, I have signed the petition - I hope it will make a difference.

I don't agree that Lagoa dos Salgados is, as you put it, "a cynically destroyed barren lake". Of course it has changed somewhat in the last 20 years (well I have been visiting for 16 yrs) - what really worries me and I think the most pressing issue just now is the very low water level. So yes, its quite barren as you put it at the moment. SPEA recently achieved an agreement with the Algarve water management board to address the water levels and this institution made public that it would about 2 weeks ago - problem has it hasn't! This upsetting news has only just come to light. I only hope that they will restore water to the site very soon indeed. If nothing then many nests will be left high and dry - that's a horrible thought.

I think it is totally out of order to say that SPEA have been bought off with their "visitor centre". Only when/if developments start will some funds be available for any "reserve type infrastructures" - so I understand. I know SPEA/RSPB have drawn up a management plan for the site and the idea was that the site would be accessed from the north via the ruin in question. Its not supposed to be an observation point but an info centre etc. The western side of the lagoon would then be closed off and one would have to go through the centre to gain access - and from there via paths and hides - RSPB style.

SPEA have been working almost continuously for years now - fighting for the cause of Lagoa dos Salgados - any misgivings about results cannot be pointed at SPEA - the water problems etc have come about because of broken agreements by authorities. Also, bureaucracy is painfully slow here as we know well and the state bodies have to be constantly reminded of the issues of the site - It is SPEA that have been doing this all the time.

I personally believe that if any success is to made of this complex situation we should all be 100% behind SPEA.

I also still hope that any development will respect and cherish the area's values, apply the crucial 500m buffer zone and invest in favourable habitat management. I don't believe one iota that place will be concreted over - that is not on anybody's agenda!

Franks, your comment: "but it makes me sad that anyone can be so blind as to see any bright side to this - shame on you Simon!" is pretty undignified and unfair don't you think?

In my earlier post I tried to explain why the situation could be better than it seems - on the long term. The info I gave is based entirely on what I have learned about the site's management plan - of course with no money nothing will happen - but with some at a later stage it could happen - at least on a gradual basis.

We have two opposing views I know - you believe that the future will be the worst case scenario, while myself, a little naively just maybe, thinks that something positive will come out in the end. Cannot we come together on this? We obviously all cherish the place!

I think we should be championing the SPEA/RSPB management plan (that includes a lot more than what I mentioned), fighting to get water back on the site now - and above all securing the site's best interests IF development goes ahead.

We have to give SPEA credit guys - they are achievers - look at what they have done in the islands where those globally important seabirds colonies are for example. Lagoa dos Salgados is a tough one indeed and of course I am worried but I stay hopeful. That article from the Algarve Daily News is misinformed and factually incorrect - and has been already addressed by the RSPB International Country Programmes Department - I'll post what they have said below.

Best wishes

Simon

 

[Simon Wates]

Here is today's message from Jose Tavares RSPB:

http://algarvedailynews.com/news/6852-silves-sells-out-to-developers

Unfortunately the text is not very exact, and is subject to misinterpretation.

So here’s what we know about this

This is not a new development, but rather the old development that has been on the cards for several years, promoted by Finalgarve

This development has already been approved for quite a while – it is included in the Plano de Promenor da Praia Grande. Years ago we have engaged with the promoters and also the council (CM Silves), and managed to reduce the scope of thi project – number of beds and area to be built was significantly reduced, and a buffer zone around the wetland reserved for nature conservation. Not ideal, but the best we could do then.

Finalgarve belongs to a holding which is associated with BPN and SLN, and hence has been mired in financial problems for the past few years. With the collapse of the bank, Finalgarve lost all their financing potential, and thefore this project has been dormant in the last few years – a welcome and unexpected reprieve for the area. Years ago we thought that the area would be developed by 2013-2015! So even though all was approved, things did not get into motion because there was no financing for the construction!

Recently Finalgarve expressed interest to reactivate the project, so they have now signed in the Camara Municipal de Silves an urbanization contract (“contrato de urbanizacao”) to be able to start the construction. Hence the news and the statements in the press.

We have also been told that Finalgarve still does not have the cash to start the construction, and they are looking for partners to do so. Difficult to say how much of this is bluffing or not, so difficult to judge if this is another false start or indeed if there are any chances that the construction will start next year.

Regarding the Herdade dos Salgados golf course you mention below, unfortunately the situation there is also tragical, and sad – a reflection of the state of affairs in Portugal. As you know the Herdade dos Salgados is bankrupt, and so it stopped paying for the water for their greens and gardens. The Camara Municipal de Albufeira (the Herdade dos Salgados is on the east bank of the lagoon, and so belongs to Albufeira) cut the water. It appears that in the last few weeks the Herdade dos Salgados has been extracting illegally water from the wetland to water the golf course and gardens. SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal) has been pressing the Algarve water management board (ARH) to take action since late May. On the 8th June the ARH made public a statement promising that they would take care of the water level of the wetland, and if need be stop the irrigation of the Golfe dos Salgados. The problem is that this has not happened – the golf and the gardens continue to be irrigated, and the wetland is loosing 4 cm of water a week, and is now below the 3,5 m water level- when it should be on the 4,5m! Today SPEA sent a letter to the minister of environment about this, asking for more action, and will put out yet another press release on the matter.


Hope these clarify some of the details of what is happening – a sad, sad situation, a reflection of the poor state of affairs.


PS – Our lobbying to declare Salgados as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the Birds Directive never progressed much within the Portuguese Ministry of Environment, despite all the countless meetings and briefings. As you know the Portuguese nature conservation agency (ICNB) is totally destroyed, utterly ineffective and practically non-existent.

Best,

Jose Tavares

International Country Programmes Department

International Division

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

 

[Pam_m]

Hi Simon, thank you for taking the time to post the information on Lagoa dos Salgados! Interesting and yet at the same time very sad reading!

 

[Brian Bullough]

Yes I agree all this makes dismal reading, I have visited the site many times on my couple of holidays in the area , but I seem to remember reading about the same problem of illegal water extraction / reduction ,sewage problems, illegal hunting,packs of dogs running loose over the site etc: which has been going on for years . To me one of it's great appeals is its layout at present ,visitor centres etc: are all well and good as long as habitat management is at the core, get that right first then develop the visitor potential .
Does anyone in Portugal's infrastructure have power to act against the illegal extraction of water which seems to be the most pressing problem at the moment.
It's easy I suppose to sit in the UK and criticise although most of the criticism levelled here is too high a water level.
Development seems to have slowed due to the current monetary crisis like the area west of Vilamoura so it is puzzling where all the money will come from for this project.
But having said that it could be it's saviour.
Brian

 

[QBE]

OK, right now I'm too busy trying to raise awareness of this ghastly situation via the on-line petition to fully reply Si, so I'll keep this short, but first of all I want to thank you for signing it and hopefully for spreading the word via FB & T.
That ANY permission has been granted for building of any sort here is a disgrace. This is the last lagoon of its kind along this coastline that hasn't already been blighted and "gentrified" out of existence.
Let alone MORE hotels and yet another golf course. As I said to José in my email this morning ...
" ... This unique lagoon is being trashed daily, most noticeably by the management of Herdade dos Salgados as you rightly point out, yet nothing seems to be done and no-one is held accountable for the irretrievable damage they continue to inflict. The Herdade dos Salgados does this daily right now - and Finalgarve, a company currently with no funds and facing a Parliamentary Committee over its corruption, will no doubt do the same in the future with the same amount of impunity.
With the national news coverage of the breaking down of the sea wall a year or so back I felt sure that there would be a ground-swell of opinion to fully protect the area, and indeed there is an international wish that this should happen - which is why I put together the on-line petition - but this international wish seems not to have been made use of by any of the bodies fighting for the preservation of this site.
My hope is that maybe you can use this petition to show the "responsible" authorities that they indeed have a responsibility to future generations to conserve what they still have rather than frittering the last of it away in a flawed plan to boost a particular Camâra's budget."
Of course we're behind SPEA and the RSPB's efforts to do what they can to protect this area. Perhaps it might have been a good idea for all of us who are interested in this matter to have been kept fully informed about the results and progress of these meetings that have taken place. Maybe we could all have helped more - I simply don't believe that those two bodies have struck a good enough deal with the corrupt developers - whose word seems to hold a pretty low value nowadays in any case - and I reckon we can gather enough indignation across the web for them to use to get either a whole lot better deal or to have the present planning agreement rescinded altogether.
Once they put the infrastructure in there'll be no going back and we'll have lost this wonderful place for ever; that infrastructure will be funded I suppose by Silves Câmara, and you can bet your bottom dollar they'll be a whole lot more efficient about destroying the place for good by doing so than any of their past efforts at preserving it, so we're up against a time limit despite what Finalgarve say about not having the funds to do any construction post infrastructure ...
I'm not seeing this as a totally black scenario - that'd be an oil tanker running aground - but in the light of past development of the area is there any basis whatsoever of trusting in this developer's word. The picture I paint is simply that that has taken place to the last few lagoons to have been "developed" - complete with all "Nature Protection" - further along the coast.
Right that's quite enough time on this, I'm off to try to get more awareness of the situation; thanks for doing the same!

 

[Simon Wates]

A little more news

Two quotes from the serious Portuguese newspaper - the Expresso:

A SPEA escreveu à ministra do Ambiente, Assunção Cristas, apelando para que suspenda a utilização abusiva da água da Lagoa para fins de rega do empreendimento e do campo de golfe.

SPEA have written to the Minister(ess) of the Environment, Assunção Cristas to appeal for the suspension of abusive use of the site's water for irrigating urbanisations and the golf course.

E a Almargem enviou para Bruxelas uma queixa contra o Estado português por ainda não ter classificado esta lagoa como uma zona de proteção especial para as aves (ZPE) e nada fazer para impedir o que está a acontecer.

...and Almargem (an active Algarve based nature conservation NGO) have sent a complaint to Brussels against the Portuguese state for failing to classify the area as a SPA (which affords the highest legal protection for birdlife in the EU) and failing to do anything to stop what is happening at the moment.

 

[G Bond]

I wonder if Birdlife and RSPB could lobby internationally to stop this and the golf course next door trying to destroy the area as well? Its not a good reflection on Portuguese and Algarve authorities that this area remains vulnerable, after all, its been seen in the past that all it takes is for the beach to be removed for the whole lagoon to be drained, apparently without any comeback to those responsible. I hope the effortts of SPEA work but with the recent history of the site it doesnt look good.

 

[bongofury]

Like others on here I visited the reserve last year on my day of birding and was amazed at the site: my first Flamingoes, Stilts, Avocets, White Storks and Fan-tailed Warblers. We really loved this area of Portugal and will return, so it would be disheartening if the site was destroyed. Petition signed, thanks for giving me the opportunity.

 

[apbarr]

I have also signed the petition and hope that it makes a difference but I have my doubts. Unfortunately conservation tends to take second place to profit worldwide and particularly when the local economy involved is in recession.

 

[johnny boy]

Algarve wetlands

www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_Salg..._birding_sanctuary_from_being_destroyed/Print
Email

Created on Monday, 02 July 2012 23:00

Flamingos at Salgados lagoonThe League for the Protection of Nature (LPN) warned today of the "assault on the Algarve coastline" that the Praia Grande/Salgados development represents.

The league announced today that, following eco-group Almargem, it also is lodging a complaint with the European Commission against the development.

The president of the National LPN, Alexandra Cunha, said the complaint is justified as the Portuguese state and the municipality of Silves had a "lack of commitment to making this area of ​​marshland near Pêra in a protected area."www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_Salgados_a_unique_internationally_recognized_birding_sanctuary_from_being_destroyed/


Regarding the Praia Grande development project planned for the area to the north of the Salgados lagoon, the leader of the LPN accused the executive of Silves Camara and the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development (CCDR) of the Algarve of "insensitivity" to the ecological importance of the Salgados Lagoon wetlands.

LPN states it is "shocked” by the plans for a typical urbanisation in this important natural area.

The first phase of the Praia Grande development is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023 and is to consist of two five-star hotels, a four star hotel, two resorts, and a golf course.

In today’s press statement the LPN Algarve asks whether the current economic crisis will be "synonymous with savagery," and is to "give up the whole idea of the conservation of nature, and those values that are ​​fundamental to the balance of our ecosystems.

The LPN states that further development on the Algarve’s coast goes against the National Strategy for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and the Water Framework Directive, both of which warn against the rise in the costal population and the dangers of allowing further development.

"Trying to avoid these directives, while focusing on the millions to be made in these types of real estate deals, and at a time when the property market has halted and is in decline like in Spain, is trying to cloud objectivity" said the LPN.

The president of Loulé-based eco-group Almargem, stressed that the latest tourism figures showing sustained drops in the number of visitors to the Algarve, "show that this is not the way" and advocated a policy of demolition for some of the many unoccupied buildings along the coast.

"When we thought that this crisis would provide an opportunity to reflect a little about what we are doing and perhaps begin to demolish surplus buildings, then we get this news (about Praia Grande/Salgados)," lamented the league's president, Alexandra Cunha.