In the document submitted to parliament, the Leftists suggest the Government takes the necessary measures to safeguard the seasonal freshwater wetlands, to prevent their imminent destruction.
The party also suggests a detailed study of the area is carried out, with a view to its environmental classification.
The wetlands, known as ‘Alagoas Brancas’, are located in the urban area of the city of Lagoa, and has been studied by ornithologists who identified more than 70 species of birds in the area, some rare and protected.
This is the main reason why environmental associations such as the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA) and the Almargem Association consider that the area has natural values that define it in the definition of sites in the Ramsar network and should therefore be properly classified.
The area has been at the heart of a fierce tug-of-war between environmentalists and local authorities, after it emerged a large hypermarket was to be built on it.
The Left Bloc states, the area is at “imminent risk of being completely destroyed by the building of a hypermarket, a situation that would be an irreparable loss for the municipality of Lagoa and for the Algarve”.
In a statement the Leftist MPs added “the area is facing an attack on the environment and heritage since greater values, such as the protection and conservation of rare species in our country, are at stake.”
On the other hand, they continued, the Algarve region needs to diversify the offer of its main economic activity - tourism – by making clear investment in nature tourism and in particular in bird-watching.
“Portugal, more specifically the Algarve and Alentejo regions, are considered as the best country for the observation of migratory birds from all over Europe”, the Left Bloc stressed-
In this context and to classify the area, the Left Bloc MPs said they consider it a priority and urgent to carry out a detailed study of the White Alagoas, which should be undertaken by the Institute of Nature Conservation and Biodiversity, as claimed by the environmental associations.