The Janela Aberta 21, Sustainable Development Education Centre based in Monchique has submitted an application to the 'Visions on Innovation for Sustainable Tourism Awards' citing the Autódromo do Algarve as an example of bad practice and environmentally damaging economic activity.
In the VISTAwards, good practice is praised and bad practice is damned for those nominated tourism-related, irresponsible businesses running the projects that have been submitted.
Bad practice might be a piece of unjust government policy, poor governance, inappropriate property or destination development, corporate greed, harmful environmental business services/practices, oppressive and unfair social behaviour, unsustainable use of technology, etc... The VISTAwards covers all comers.
The application represents the most in depth analysis of the impact that the Autódromo do Algarve has had on the local environment, for such little economic benefit.
Extract:
"The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve race track, development park and tourism resort has been built in the buffer zone of a Natura 2000 area, in prime Iberian lynx and Bonelli’s eagle habitat, mainly to fulfil the wishes of a small consortium of local business people, rather than through any sustainability land management process.
The business has been operating without having implemented key aspects of noise reduction design features, which means the events exceed legal noise limits and can be heard in a 10km radius, depending on wind direction, disturbing an estimated 5000 plus residents in the vicinity.
There is a process of green-washing the project going on, with alternative energy investments being used to provide a sustainability cloak to otherwise economically, environmentally and socially irresponsible, elitist construction, leisure and tourism businesses.
€200 million has been invested, €40 million of which came through national to regional funding channels, promising thousands of jobs and businesses which have not materialised.
From concept to implementation there has a pattern of financial and organisational mismanagement leading to poor building quality and non-completion of key design elements."
The application for the VISTAward for 'Irresponsible Tourism Development' continues and explains in detail the many aspects of this complex project.
For VISTAwards Spotlight on Irresponsible Tourism, see:
For the .pdf of the detailed report on the Autodrome ,
See also: http://www.vistawards.com/
and for other articles on the Autodrome, see
http://www.algarvedailynews.com/cases/autodrome
2018-06-13