The environmental association Quercus today called for the rejection of the deforestation project for the Sines Industrial and Logistics Zone (ZILS), which foresees the felling of 3,593 cork oaks, as the public consultation ends this Thursday.
In a statement, Quercus urged the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) to reject the project that foresees the installation of industrial and logistics units in the ZILS, in the Setúbal district.
According to the environmental association, the unfavorable opinion on the project promoted by aicep Global Parques, the entity managing ZILS, is due to “the magnitude of the environmental impacts.”
The opinion also took into account the “contradictions identified in the Environmental Impact Study (EIA)” and the “absence of justification for an intervention of this dimension.”
What is at stake is the deforestation of 347.62 hectares of Execution Unit A2 of the ZILS, intended to prepare land for the installation of new industrial and logistics units.
Among the main concerns are “the destruction of almost 350 hectares of forest, the specific felling of 3,593 cork oaks, the designation of priority habitats and of vulnerable avifauna breeding sites.”
As a measure of compensation, “the planting of 32.79 hectares is proposed, which does not guarantee, however, an immediate ecological equivalence,” it argued.
The planned deforestation for that area also raises concerns, given the “loss of carbon storage and sequestration capacity.”
According to Quercus, the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) itself “estimates emissions of 32,403 tonnes” of carbon dioxide equivalent, while the “potential for compensation” foreseen is “only around 1,176 tonnes.”
In the note, the organization also warned about the project’s direct impact on the destruction of protected habitats and designated areas.
Another problem identified relates to the work schedule, which, according to the association, foresees interventions during periods sensitive for bird reproduction, contrary to “protection measures established in the EIA.”
“The felling of trees in nesting sites could cause the destruction of nests, the mortality of eggs and chicks, the abandonment of breeding territories and the permanent loss of habitat essential to reproduction,” it reads.
The organization also warned of the risks of soil erosion and sediment runoff during the rainy season, as well as potential consequences of the future impermeabilization of the lands on flood risk.
The environmental association also identified a “lack of transparency and inconsistency” between the EIA and its Non-Technical Summary, considering that “it prevents citizens from properly assessing the environmental consequences of the project.”
For Quercus president Alexandra Azevedo, cited in the statement, “the loss of natural heritage is immediate and, in many cases, irreversible, while the proposed compensations may take decades to bear fruit.”
In the statement, the association argued for excluding priority habitats, areas of high ecological sensitivity and cork oak propagation nuclei, conditioning deforestation on the existence of duly approved and licensed projects and revising the deforestation calendar.
It also demanded effective compensation of the carbon emissions associated with deforestation, wildlife protection plans, erosion prevention, control of invasive species and fire prevention.
The flood study with the impermeabilization of the affected hectares and independent environmental monitoring, with public results, and the republication of the corrected Non-Technical Summary, were among the other demands.
