After yet another episode of pollution in the Alviela River, GEOTA (Group of Studies on Territorial Planning and Environment) and several other Environmental Organizations, including CLAPA (Alviela Anti-Pollution Fight Commission), proTEJO – Movement for the Tagus, WWF Portugal, FAPAS – Portuguese Association for Biodiversity Conservation, ZERO (Association for a Sustainable Earth System), SPEA | BirdLife, LPN (League for the Protection of Nature) and Quercus – National Association for Nature Conservation, emphasize the incompatibility between investment in ecological restoration activities and the recurring pollution episodes in the Alviela River, with “grave” consequences at ecological, social and economic levels, as disclosed in a press release.
According to the same source, who has been working on the ecological restoration of the Alviela River since 2022, Ana Catarina Miranda, the coordinator of GEOTA’s Rios Livres program, notes that “a problem as fundamentally grave as the recurring pollution episodes in the Alviela River ends up making the work we do at GEOTA, which has even won international recognition for promoting in the Alviela the river rehabilitation and the reconnection of communities with the river, ill-suited.”
Penélope de Melo, president of CLAPA, an organization focused since 1976 on action against Alviela pollution, states that it is “unacceptable, after half a century of struggle, that discharges into the Alviela River persist without there being from the central administration an effective, preventive and structural response.”
The Environmental Organizations call on the government to commit to safeguarding the ecological quality of the Alviela River and the quality of life of its people, honoring the historic, cultural and patrimonial importance of this river. In this sense, they consider essential that the central administration, through the various entities and competencies at stake, implement structural solutions, with clearly defined responsibilities, effective control mechanisms and concrete implementation deadlines.
The signatory organizations point to the need to put in place, in the Alviela, effective and transparent monitoring, oversight and accountability mechanisms. They point to continuous monitoring of water quality as essential, guaranteeing immediate public access to information, and the creation of effective public participation systems that allow the involvement of local communities and Environmental Organizations, plainly concerned about the recurring pollution episodes.
