A local campaign group has warned that a new programme focused on mapping potential renewable-energy construction zones risks placing ecologically valuable areas and threatened species in the Algarve at risk, in a statement released today, 15 July, by the Algarve and Alentejo Platform for Sustainability and Biodiversity (PPSBAA).
In a statement sent to journalists, the environmental group has said that the plan set out by the Sectoral Programme for Renewable Energy Deployment Acceleration Zones (PSZAER) identifies areas across the Algarve and Alentejo that overlap with territories regarded as essential for nature conservation and for species classified as either Endangered or Critically Endangered.
Public consultation on the proposed PSZAER, available through Portugal's Participa portal, closes today.
For reference, the programme under criticism by the campaign group consists of a map designed to identify, at a national level, the areas considered most suitable for the development of renewable energy projects, including solar farms, wind farms, and associated infrastructure, with the aim of speeding up the planning and licensing process.
The proposal identifies around 7% of mainland Portugal as having the potential to accelerate solar and wind energy developments, although it notes that implementation will ultimately depend on grid capacity, licensing procedures, market conditions, and public acceptance.
According to the PPSBAA, the aforementioned map "fails to safeguard the migratory corridor across the Algarve's mountain ranges", which is used by thousands of birds during their autumn migration to Africa.
The organisation also argues that the proposal does not protect the ecological corridors linking the Monchique and Caldeirão mountain ranges, nor those connecting north-eastern Algarve with the Guadiana Valley and Spain's Extremadura region.
The platform says the proposed zones encompass so-called montado landscapes, cork oak and holm oak agroforestry mosaics, as well as habitats regarded as "essential for several species with critical conservation status".
According to the environmental organisation, including these sensitive areas in the programme would increase the risk of collision mortality, habitat fragmentation and habitat loss, as well as creating a so-called "barrier effect" that could further disrupt wildlife movements.
The campaign group argues that the survival of species including the cinereous vulture, Egyptian vulture, black stork, Spanish imperial eagle, great bustard, little bustard, European roller, lesser kestrel, Montagu's harrier, black-bellied sandgrouse, Mehely's horseshoe bat, lesser mouse-eared bat, European wildcat, European rabbit, and Iberian lynx could be jeopardised, should the projects go ahead.
With regard to the Iberian lynx, the group says the plan includes breeding and expansion areas for the species in north-eastern Algarve, warning that the increasing “artificialisation” of the landscape "could also affect habitats essential for Bonelli's eagle and the Spanish imperial eagle".
The platform maintains that the choices set out in the PSZAER map threaten "decades of public investment and scientific research" dedicated to restoring these species by undermining the ecological conditions needed to consolidate their populations in southern Portugal.
As an alternative, the PPSBAA argues that renewable energy expansion should prioritise land that has already been developed, including buildings, industrial estates, and other existing infrastructure, whilst also focusing on the upgrading and repowering of existing wind farms to reduce the need to occupy additional natural areas.
For these reasons, the organisation has formally opposed the PSZAER map in its statement, and is calling for the proposal to be revised to ensure that the expansion of renewable energy is compatible with the protection of biodiversity.
Source: PPSBAA
Photo credit: CJR
