PROBAAL says honour reinforces its determination to protect “unique Barrocal territory”
PROBAAL, the Algarve environmental group that recently helped see off a massively destructive solar panel project, has been honoured with the Fernando Pereira 2024 National Environment Award.
As the group’s press release today explains, the prize “was awarded to PROBAAL for its work in neutralising the 83 megawatt Estói photovoltaic plant project, which threatened to destroy 154 hectares of the National Ecological Reserve, above the Peral-Moncarapacho aquifer, in the municipality of Tavira.
“The award was presented by the President of the Portuguese Confederation of Environmental Defence Associations (CPADA) Executive Board, José Manuel Caetano, and by the Chief of Staff of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Miguel Oliveira.
“PROBAAL President Sofia Palmeiro and Vice-President Amanda McGregor received the award, thanking their hydrologist, Professor José Carvalho, engineer Cláudia Sil, and biologists from the University of the Algarve, who discovered a new species: Teucrium aristatum , which exists nowhere else in Portugal.
“Thanks were also extended to the Montes Doutores da Jordana Hunting and Fishing Club and to the 861 citizens and associations who took part in the public consultation and opposed the CFE project.
Regarding the battle, PROBAAL said:
“In the end, we proved scientifically that the project for the Photovoltaic Plant was planned for the wrong place and the Portuguese Environment Agency agreed.
“But, our small community should not have had to hire hydrologists, biologists, technicians and lawyers in order to protect our water source – nor to protect 154 hectares of biodiversity-rich land, which is already classified by the Portuguese state as a National Ecological Reserve.
“Although this exercise of citizenship and collaborative action has made it possible to defend this territory in particular – throughout the country, this role truly belongs to the government. Because in a small country like ours, where every year thousands of hectares are burnt or swallowed up by mining and energy projects, action is urgently needed. The current government must prioritise the defence of the green areas that we still have, thus preserving biodiversity and ecosystems”.
The Fernando Pereira award is named after an ‘eco-warrior’ who drowned after French Intelligence detonated a bomb on the Rainbow Warrior in 1985.
PROBAAL’s duo who travelled up to the parish of Tendais, in Cinfães, for the 29th national meeting of CPADA environmental associations took advantage of the fact that there was a member of government present to talk about “the inadequate nature of the laws regarding National Ecological Reserve (REN) and National Agricultural Reserve (RAN) land, which do not serve to protect these territories as they should.
“Areas of farmland in the Alentejo are being covered with solar panels, when they should be kept for food production or forestry. For one project, over 1 million trees have been cut down to make way for a million solar panels. It is not sustainable or green to do this – and the laws need to be updated to prevent this from happening”, they said.
Amanda told us: “Speaking with other members of the confederation at the conference, people who are doing amazing environmental work in their own parts of Portugal, it was interesting to hear that they were inspired and given hope by our story – I think this is because ‘victories’ over ill-conceived or destructive project are currently rare, for example, in 2023, 90% of utility scale solar projects were given conditional approval and a number of these were on REN land like ours. But, it is important to be hopeful, because giving up before you even start won’t get you anywhere. Our whole ethos for the campaign, was to believe that we would do it and then remain open to all solutions.
“Receiving this award serves to reinforce the determination that PROBAAL has, to continue its work in regard to the protection and enhancement of the unique Barrocal territory”, she concluded – which considering recent issues, is undoubtedly very reassuring.
