28 civic and environmental associations delivered an open letter, denouncing the lack of effective participation and transparency in the process of drawing up the Serra da Estrela’s Revitalisation Programme.
Following the Council of Ministers' resolution of February 8, and subsequent communication, which revealed a total investment of €155M and some of the measures planned under the Serra da Estrela’s Natural Park Revitalisation Programme (PRPNSE), civic society groups are requesting access to the approved programme and denounce several flaws its drafting process.
They emphasise that the instrument had been announced by Minister Ana Abrunhosa, as a plan that would come from the territory, involving local entities and populations, which ended up not happening.
Through the open letter, 28 associations from Portugal’s largest protected area and the whole country, share concerns and formulate demands regarding what has been announced by the government and the municipalities of Guarda and Covilhã.
Their knowledge of the terrain and the history of the management of the Natural Park emphasises their indignation at the lack of participatory models, the lack of transparency and a tendency to focus public investment in Serra da Estrela on one-off projects rather than designing a resilient plan based on a long-term vision for the future.
The associative movement has grown significantly since 2017 in Serra da Estrela, reflecting the growing civic concern for the future of the territory.
Manuel Franco, president of the Guardians of Serra da Estrela association, created after the 2017 fires, says: "There was an initial consultation to which some associations were invited randomly, but it was neither a comprehensive nor a sufficiently participatory process. We were confronted with a communiqué that speeks of major construction projects without a word addressed to the conservation or resilience, completely disconnected from the true origins of the cyclical catastrophes that have been devastating this natural park."
In the open letter, the associations also state that the lack of transparency evident in the definition and approval of the Programme, made it impossible for it to be evaluated and discussed publicly in due time, i.e. while it was possible to collaborate in drawing up a joint strategy for Serra da Estrela.
Finally, the authors of the open letter share the fear that the Revitalisation Programme is not really focused on the urgent need to revitalise the landscape destroyed by the fires, since most of the projects so far communicated by the Ministry and the municipalities focus on major construction and infrastructures, some since decades demanded by the mayors. In the signatories' view, "the main concern of this programme should be to sustain and regenerate a territory of conservation and the provision of ecosystem services, particularly in terms of water and soil, carbon and biodiversity itself."
Joana Viveiro, from the Estrela Viva Movement, which was also founded in the wake of the 2017 wildfires, says: "The Serra da Estrela associations had some hope in this 'Marshall Plan' for our mountains! But the process got off to a bad start, with the lack of effective involvement of civil society and the lack of transparency in drawing up the document, which was not the subject of any public consultation. What's more, the main concern of this programme should be the regeneration of a conservation area and fair remuneration for ecosystem services, and it seems to us that this is not going to be the priority!''
These common concerns and the desire to contribute to the effective regeneration of the country's largest protected area led the signatories to request an urgent hearing with the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion and the Intermunicipal Community of Beiras and Serra da Estrela (CIM-BSE).
Signatories
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Estrada do Calhariz de Benfica, 187
1500 - 124 Lisboa
© 2018 Liga para a Protecção da Natureza.
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