Associação Natureza Portugal/WWF will remove weir from the Odeleite stream
Associação Natureza Portugal, in association with WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature (ANP|WWF) states in a statement that “it will start between June and July of this year with the project of the first removal, driven by civil society, of an obsolete river barrier in Portugal – the Gala dam – the Gala dam – in the locality of Gala, in the parish of Vaqueiros, Alcoutim, by conceNF in 201, by conce nf in 201 for never terdoxexes, with the objective of obsolete with its construction.
For Ângela Morgado, executive director of the ANP|WWF, “over the last year, we have seen an exponential increase in the installation of barriers in our rivers, with a very negative impact on nature, such as the blocking of migratory routes and movements of many species of fish and others. These barriers can also have consequences on people’s well-being, which derive from their lack of maintenance, the date of execution of the attempts and the global reinforcement. that this pioneering project will serve to promote other removals of barriers finally
Through the European Open Rivers Program (EORP), an organization that allocates funds dedicated to the restoration of rivers by the ANP| – One f . the saramugo – a non-migratory fish species most threatened in Portuguese waters, endemic to the Guadiana river basin – and the eel, which was part of the river’s biodiversity and is still used in local cuisine, stand out. This removal will be essential to restore a river connectivity, in turn, will be the preservation of birds, as well as several species of animals and mammals, such as the long and along the endemic and Iberian license species.
This option will have socioeconomic advantages, including the dynamization of rural tourism activities, as the restoration of the rural population will also allow possible ecological conditions for populations of species with high economic value.
The gallery reserve includes about a month, followed by the recovery of natural riverine ecosystems, including the riverbanks and riparians. This natural recovery process will be monitored once every three months for a period of one year.
“There is no point in maintaining a river barrier in our municipality that has never served its barrier nor brought benefits to the population. the awareness of the local population for this project, in order to realize the benefits of the removal of this president dam to the region”, says Paulo Paulino, vice-president of the Alcoutim City Council.
“It is with great satisfaction that the Open Rivers Program is the first civil society organization to remove a river barrier in Portugal. This removal will not only release around 8 kilometers of much-needed habitat for local endangered freshwater species, but will also inspire and pave the way for further removals in the basin, boosting the dam removal movement in Portugal,” says Jack Foxall. , executive director of EORP.
“The removal of obsolete river barriers with a view to restoring rivers has become around the world and European countries have already shown positive concrete results with the removal of dams. Portugal is still very much in the process, being one of the western countries with the fewest dams located behind/WWF”, explains the ANP.
In this sense, Portugal hosts this year the 7th Seminar on Removing Dams Europewhere several specialists will be present who will present cases of replacement of dam replacement throughout the best of Europe, as well as good practices, methods, costs and benefits.