Ria Formosa Week, in fact four days between May 2nd to 6th, aims to highlight local environmental issues and the conservation of nature, with the support of Águas do Algarve.
The Ria Formosa natural park area is one of the most important wetlands in Portugal and the series of events aims to enlighten local people, especially schoolchildren, as to what is on their doorstep.
Águas do Algarve, as part of its educational and environmental remit, the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forestry’s department that covers the Algarve, the Portuguese Environment Agency and several other local and regional entities have joined forces in an effort to highlight the positive aspects of their work in this area.
In a brave decision, the Seahorse has been chosen as the image for the second year's Ria Formosa Week despite rapidly shrinking seahorse numbers and their threatened status in the Ria Formosa lagoon where they live and breed.
Theft of seahorses, noise pollution, habitat destruction and pollution in the Ria Formosa lagoon area have reduced stocks to concerning levels.
Untreated sewage enters the Ria Formosa from multiple points, the most notable being near the Ria Formosa island passenger ferry terminal in Olhão. Another source of pollution is from an outflow at the Faro end of the lagoon, a pollution source that the mayor says ‘does not exist’ despite evidence that this is real problem.
The Águas do Algarve sewage treatment plant between Faro and Olhão allows nitrogen rich, chemically treated outflow into the lagoon yet has not been censured.
A planned new sewage plant on this site will be more efficient but the waste water is still destined for the Ria Formosa rather than usefully being used for agricultural irrigation.
These are just some of the real problems in the Ria Formosa area which the sponsors will not be mentioning to schoolchildren as they concentrate on nature’s glory and the photogenic seahorse.
The programme is aimed at local pupils who hopefully are savvy enough to realise they are being subject to a short period of intense ‘greenwashing’.*
The promotional blurb is first class and includes: “To promote the pedagogical sharing of experiences and simultaneously the development of activities on the natural values of this territory are the challenges of this project that promises to stir the students in the creation and consolidation of an environmental awareness in an environment programme thought out in detail to captivate the educative community.”
An estimated 1,600 people participated in the initiative in 2016 and the sponsors want more to go through the corporate and State controlled ‘thought realignment programme’ to show the Ria Formosa as a wonderland, full of happy seahorses and cheery fishermen using the crystal-clear waters to harvest their plump, pollution free shellfish.
This, at least, is something to work towards. Meanwhile the pollution flows unabatated into the lagoon area, ignored by those authorities that should be protecting these important waters .
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* Greenwashing is when a company, government or other group promotes green-based environmental initiatives or images but actually operates in a way that is damaging to the environment or in an opposite manner to the goal of the announced initiatives. This can also include misleading customers about the environmental benefits of a product through misleading advertising and unsubstantiated claims.
