The Municipalities of Lagoa in the Algarve and Tarifa in Spain, are working together to mitigate the negative impact that the invasive marine alga, Rugulopterix Okamurae, has had on the tourism sector.
The seaweed has caused huge losses to tourism, given the amount of algae that has appeared on beaches in the south of Portugal and Spain.
A delegation composed of president Luís Encarnação, vice-president Anabela Simão, councilor Mário Guerreiro and technicians from the Lagoense municipality, travelled to the city of Tarifa, in Spain, near the Strait of Gibraltar, last month to learn about all the work carried out by technicians from the Spanish municipality of Tarifa, because the area has been faced with the problem of invasive algae since 2018.
The visit focused on the study and data collected so far by the Municipality of Tarifa, the measures taken to mitigate the impact of the invasive species and the fate to be given to it.
This meeting also served to enable the Municipality of Lagoa, which has been facing this problem for two years, to share its experience and the difficulties they have had in dealing with this phenomenon.
According to the municipality, this partnership aims to “carry out a more complete and detailed study of this invasive species, so that it can be shared with the various entities seeking a transversal solution to the problem, such as the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA ), the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), the University of Algarve and all municipalities in the Algarve region”.
Photo CCMAR UAlg
