Wildfires

‘Why work to see everything burned?’

‘A person is always thinking,’ says António Barroso from Piódão, who doesn’t want to leave the land where fruit trees used to grow around the house. The fire burned everything, but his house was miraculously spared. ‘The house is all I have and the profit of a lifetime. Except that, I’am a little stubborn,’ he adds with a wry smile.

For more than a month, a practically uncontrollable wave of wildfires has so far consumed more than 270,000 hectares (3% of the Portuguese territory) of rural and forest areas; 65,000 of which have been devastated in the enormous fire, that started in Piódão – in the municipality of Arganil (Coimbra district) – now considered to be the largest wildfire ever in the country.

According to the Institute of Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF), 34,000 hectares (4,6% of the network of protected areas) with special ecological value have already been burned down this year. Most affected are the Serra da Estrella Natural Park (10,7%), followed by Peneda-Gerês National Park (9,2%). and the Douro International Natural Park (8,4%).

A human drama for the populations that have to face the fires without much help. It is also an environmental disaster – pumping out over 37m tonnes of carbon dioxide, nearly as much as the yearly CO2 emissions of the country – and an economic tragedy, with many millions of euros in losses and a lot of biodiversity destroyed.

And again, Pedrógão Grande was not spared – the municipality known for the highest loss of human lives in a single fire in Portugal’s recent history. In 2017, 66 people died, and lots of homes and businesses were destroyed when wildfires devastated the region. Firefighters, residents and landowners are back in a place that haunts the collective psyche.  

‘We know that large fires foster larger fires in the future. When the vegetation recovers, it grows simultaneously, and will produce an increasingly homogeneous continuum of vegetation – and if there is one thing fires like, it’s this homogeneity, explains Paulo Fernandes, a fire expert and researcher from the University of Trás-os-Montes.

Although the number of deaths – 4 people so far – cannot be compared to 2017, the burned land across the country is, up to now, the largest in the EU!

A great number of fires is believed to be caused by arsonists. Carlos Farinha, deputy national director of the Polícia Judiciária, stated to SIC Notícias, that time in prison should be increased since most of the detainees this year have already been caught in the past for the same crime.

The centre-right government of Luis Montenegro is criticized for the way it has been dealing with the fires. There seems to be a structural discoordination, both on the ground and in commands at the highest level.
The joint opposition parties have asked for a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the fires and demand that Maria Lúcia Amaral, the Minister of Home Affairs, resigns from her position.

Enjoy your week          Aproveite a sua semana      (pic Público/Ptnews)

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Flamingos

Portugal boasts ten official nature reserves

The best places to find flamingos in Portugal is in the Algarve. While flamingos usually do not breed there, they make a stop in the wetlands of Portugal. Throughout the year, they can be seen in the Ria Formosa Natural Park – the impressive wetland spanning over 60 kilometres along the coast between the beaches of Garrão and Manta Rota.

However, the best time to spot them is between November and March. Breeding season takes place between March and July.

The Greater Flamingo – which is the species usually found in the region – prefers to feed in mudflats and shallow lagoons with salt water. These birds use their long legs and webbed feet to stir up the mud and water, creating a muddy soup that they filter through their uniquely adapted bills, which are specially designed to filter out small shrimp, molluscs, seeds, and algae.

As of 2021, the Algarve saw a group of flamingos successfully establish a colony, resulting in the birth of 550 chicks, making it the first successful nesting in the country. The colony began in one of the saltpans of the Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Natural Reserve, located at the mouth of the Guadiana River, bordering Spain.

Although the event hasn’t repeated, the National Forest and Nature Conservation Institute (ICNF) investigates ways to encourage nesting again. ‘It was an atypical year’, explains João Alves, biologist at ICNF. ‘Nature tourism was restricted because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the area where they nested became much more quiet. ‘Remember that flamingos nest in colonies’, he added.

This protected area – spanning over 2,300 hectares – is Portugal’s oldest natural reserve, created 50 years ago. The establishment of the reserve also prompted traditional salt workers to form a cooperative, boosting economic activity in the area. What once was a neglected stretch of salt marches and brackish lagoons is today a thriving habitat, visited by thousands of nature lovers each year.

Except a sanctuary for flamingos, the area is home to over 200 bird species, such as Avocets, Black -winged stilts, Audouin’s gulls, spoonbills and Kentish plovers. Meanwhile, across the border in Spain, Doñana National Park – one of Europe’s most iconic wetlands – is suffering under prolonged drought, giving rise to an unexpected influx of Spanish nature tourists visiting Castro Marim.  

Another significant wetland where pink-feathered flamingos can be admired is the Tagus Estuary, situated near Lisbon, and a vital stopover for migratory birds.

The nearby Sado Estuary, located in the Setubal district, is above all famous for its white storks (and of course dolphins).


Enjoy your week                   Aproveite a semana      (pic Ptres/Público)

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Reopening?

Citizen initiative advocates reopening of the ‘Museum of the Art of the Sick‘

The Lisbon Municipal Assembly recently recommended the City Council to intensify negotiations with the Government for a reopening of the Museum of the Art of the Sick at the former psychiatric hospital Miguel Bombarda, following a petition from the Lx Citizenship Forum.

‘It is a special space that shows the richness of the first Portuguese psychiatric hospital, says one of the petitioners Pedro Janarra, calling for the reopening of the museum in the Security Pavilion – known as the Panopticon – where patients were held who had committed a crime. Inaugurated in 1848, the Miguel Bombarda hospital has been closed since 2011.

The representative of the Citizenship Forum explains that the Panoptic is unique in the world and highlights the presence of ‘more than 15,000 pieces’ of the former psychiatric hospital, with a set of 518 objects in the process of classification to which are added 2400 photographs and manuscripts, as well as an inventory of 18th century tiles in the Noble Hall (Salão Nobre).

It is the third petition of the Forum for the reopening of the museum, with the first being presented in 2014 and the second in 2023, indicated municipal deputy Daniela Serralha, responsible for the civic participation initiative.

Indicating that the former hospital is under patrimonial supervision of the public company Estamo – which took ‘almost a year’ to respond to the request of the Municipal Assembly to visit this public property, finally happening last October – Daniella Serralha states that ‘the allocation of this cultural heritage is planned for housing to affordable rents, including areas of cultural nature.’   


The independent deputy of Citizens For Lisboa (Cidadãos Por Lisboa) adds that it is expected that the Panopticon will be delivered to the City Council ‘with the condition of getting a cultural destination.’ In this regard Daniela Serralha asked the Council for urgency and that pressure be exerted on Estamo to ensure the preservation and maintenance of the heritage.

For his part, deputy Sobreda Antunes of the Ecosocialist party ‘The Greens’ (PEV) warned that ‘given the evident continued disinterest of Estamo, the most predictable will be that the museum and hospital grounds will continue to be abandoned and degrade until it is transformed into any ultra-luxurious hotel unit.’

Enjoy your week                   Aproveite a semana               (pic Público/Sapo)

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