Socialist Party MPs have taken the first steps in uncovering what is going on at Ludo, the riverside park area to the west of Faro airport, that was created with public money.
The access gates are locked and ‘No Entry – Private Property’ warn off the public after €700,000 was been spent developing the land as a public utility, part of the Ria Formosa Natural Park.
Socialist Party MPs have questioned the Ministry of Environment as to why these warning signs have been painted by the now locked gate.
The Polis Ria Formosa Company created the 'Parque Ribeirinho do Ludo' but access now is denied.
The WalkAlgarve.com website describes some of the birdwatching opportunities:
"Ecologically significant, the salt pans are a prime habitat to a large array of waders and long-legged birds, such as the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) and the Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus). In case you are not coming directly from Quinta do Lago, and instead you aim to use the entry point suggested on the map below, at first you’ll see the lagoons on either side of the trail. Despite its proximity, these bodies of water are very unalike. The water on the right-hand side is brackish, which means that it sustains botanic species like the spiny rush (Juncus acutus) and an assortment of reeds and bulrushes, which in turn shelter a diversity of ducks, coots and moorhens.”
The money was spent as part of the Strategic Plan for Rehabilitation, Intervention and Exploitation of the Ria Formosa area and aimed to develop the land for the public benefit. Polis creates walks, bicycle lanes, erected information boards, lighting, built rest areas and installed benches and picnic areas.
Access to this facility can not, in the opinion of Luís Graça, a Socialist Party member of Faro council, be limited.
Socialist MPs have demanded to know “whether the Ministry of Environment considers a closed gate and two warning signs as being in accord with the public investment that has been carried out and what steps the Ministry is going to take to remove any doubt about the legitimacy of any citizen who wants to use the Ludo riverside walk.”
Earlier observations from two algarvedailynews.com readers were that much land clearance work has been going on within the boundaries of this protected area.
The closure of the gate and daubing of warning signs could be a sign that yet again, private interests are at work to eat away at the Algarve's remaining green wildlife areas.
