The environmental organization WWF is restoring 25 hectares of Mata Nacional do Valado, in the municipality of Nazaré, in a 100,000-euro investment to recover the area affected by storm Kristin.
The project, which began in May, aims to implement an urgent intervention of forest management and ecological restoration in Mata do Valado dos Frades and at the base of Monte de São Bartolomeu, recognized by the promoters, WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature (World Wide Fund for Nature Inc., in English), as “a true island of biodiversity.”
The intervention, in a 25-hectare area, which after the storm Kristin (in January this year) suffered significant damage with the fall of trees, “started from a proposal by Lidl Portugal,” explained today the executive director of WWF Portugal, Angela Morgado, at the presentation of the project budgeted at 100,000 euros, financed by this supermarket chain.
The restoration was initiated in May of this year, with the removal of woody material and the recovery of visitation trails to Monte de São Bartolomeu, where annually the pilgrimage and traditional feast of St. Brás (on February 3) mark the start of Carnival in Nazaré, in the Leiria district.
The intervention will extend until May of next year, with actions that will include the elimination of invasive species (such as acacia and chorão) and the planting of native species “more resilient to fire and to climate change,” explained WWF technicians.
The planting will focus on species such as Pinheiro-bravo, medronheiro, carrasco and aderno, among others.
The project is part of the D-Evolução initiative, promoted by WWF Portugal, in partnership with entities and companies that support financing of environmental restoration interventions and ecosystem regeneration in various locations across the country.
“This initiative identified priority areas for restoration,” Angela Morgado told the Lusa agency, admitting that, through it, this organization “also intends to send a message to the Government that it is engaged with the National Restoration Plan, concerning priority areas to intervene.”
According to the same official, WWF is currently carrying out “a project in Peneda Gerês National Park,” where financing from several companies is enabling intervention “in more than 40 hectares,” in an investment around “around 400,000 euros.”
In Serra do Caldeirão, where there was already a restoration project funded by a foundation from the United States, WWF launched “with Brisa and with an individual donor, a foundation, another restoration project,” worth 120,000 euros.
With the same investment amount, but with different objectives and methods, WWF is developing a project in the Tagus Estuary, lasting two years, based “on a logic of implementing installations made from old supermarket trolleys, which Lidl donated, for the fixation of seahorse populations,” explained Angela Morgado.
Still in the wake of the damage caused by the storms at the beginning of the year, WWF will soon proceed with a restoration project in Serra do Montejunto, disclosed by the same official.
