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ENVIRONMENTALIST ASSOCIATION REMOVES 300 KG OF GARBAGE FROM THE CACELA VELHA BEACH

Volunteers from Association Oceans without Plastic collected 300 kilograms of garbage on the beach in Cacela Velha, in the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, in an action to raise awareness of the cleaning of Ria Formosa, said its president on 21 June.

Tiago Duarte presides over the Association and was one of about 15 volunteers who took part in the collection work on 20 June, which took place at the eastern end of Ria Formosa, next to Cacela Velha.

“It went well, we picked up a lot of garbage, almost 300 kilograms, with incredible things, from a two-meter fibre boat, almost completely buried in the sand, and dozens of creels, wrapped in 300 metres of rope, which alone weighed more 100 kilograms,” said Tiago Duarte to the Lusa agency.

The same source said that he visited this part of the coast of the Faro district for the first time this year and was “delighted with the village [of Cacela Velha] and with the landscape” of the cliff above the Ria Formosa, but he regretted that it was necessary this group of volunteers travel to the Algarve on purpose to do a job “that the Vila Real de Santo António City Council and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests do not do”.

“These are materials that have been there for years and we had to come from Lisbon to take it away,” said the president of the environmental association, thanking the collaboration of the Junta de Vila Nova de Cacela and the boatmen who cross the estuary to the beach located in barrier island in front of the town of Cacela Velha, a few kilometres from the parish headquarters.

Tiago Duarte acknowledged that the team of volunteers “was unable to clean the whole island, because then there are microplastics”, but the action made it possible to give an “awareness brushstroke” to the need for authorities responsible for the area to clean it up all year . source: theportugalnews.com

LAGOS ZOO WELCOMES PORTUGAL’S FIRST KANGAROOS

Lagos Zoo has become the first zoo in Portugal to have kangaroos, welcoming a pair of eastern grey kangaroos on Wednesday June 17. These massive marsupials, which at their highest can stand at almost two-metres tall, were brought over to the Algarve from the Neuwied Zoo in Germany and are one-year-old. “This species of kangaroo is much larger than the other species of marsupials that we already have, the Wallaby. It can hop up to nine metres in length and two metres in height,” Lagos Zoo said in a statement. In fact, the zoo even had to build an enclosure with higher fences in order to accommodate these impressive animals. Visitors will be able to see them on the zoo’s Australian Trail, which is home to other animals such as wallabies, a cape barren goose and an emu. Source: https://www.portugalresident.com

COUNCIL WANTS TO REOPEN RENOVATED PRAIA DE FARO CAMPSITE AS SOON AS ‘THIS SUMMER’

The Praia de Faro campsite may “open this summer” after the extensive renovation works that it is currently undergoing, Rogério Bacalhau, Mayor of Faro, revealed. Although there are still no certainties, given the delays the project suffered due to the ongoing pandemic, the council is convinced that “if things go well”, it will be possible that the opening will take place within this summer season.

“We believe that we will be able to have the Camping Park open this summer,” he said. “What the contractor tells me is that, next month, it will be ready. If that happens, it is likely that we will be able to open in August”, he added. The initial objective of the council “was to open now”.

But, with COVID-19, the new tourism project was delayed, as there were “other more priority measures that we had to take, related to the pandemic”.

Something that will not be a hindrance, in the case of the Faro camping site, are “conditions of work”, says Bacalhau. “We will take all the necessary measures so that the reopening is done safely”. “We will see if we have conditions for that. If there are, we will do that”, concluded the Mayor of Faro. Source: algarvedailynews.com

OLHÃO CELEBRATES MUNICIPAL HOLIDAY WITH UNVEILING OF TWO SCULPTURES

Olhão celebrated its municipal holiday on Tuesday (June 16) with the unveiling of two sculptures that pay tribute to the town’s cultural and natural heritage – one depicting a female fish factory worker and the other a Ria Formosa seahorse.

The first is a detailed and faithful homage to the women who worked at the town’s old fish factories.

Located on the roundabout of Avenida dos Operários Conserveiros near the Faropeixe and Conserveira do Sul factories, it depicts one of these women as she sits on a bench gutting a fish with scissors.

The sculpture was created by José Carlos Almeida and António Faustino and is made almost entirely from fibreglass. Only the bench and table were made with stainless steel.

The process involved a significant amount of research. Several photos of old fish factory workers from Olhão were provided to the artists by the local council to help them to recreate these historic figures and their specific traits.

As José Carlos Almeida explained, the way fish factory workers dressed and looked varied according to which region of Portugal they came from.

But we had access to documents which helped us greatly,” Almeida told Barlavento newspaper.

The second sculpture has been erected on Avenida 5 de Outubro and pays homage to the Ria Formosa’s seahorse population, considered by local mayor António Pina as “part of the town’s heritage”.

The idea came from the mind of local designer Isa Fernandes, who was also the talent behind other local sculptures such as those located at Largo da Fábrica Velha and Largo do Gaibéu.

However, it was brought to life by Alexandru Groza, a Quarteirabased artist. To create the five-metre tall and 1.80-metre wide sculpture, Groza used around 5,000 pieces of ceramic material. “In recent years, we have tried to call ourselves the ‘capital of Ria Formosa’. This comes with an increased responsibility on how we manage this area,” said the mayor. “We see the seahorse as our mascot and want it to become one of the symbols of Olhão.”

Original article written by Bruno Filipe Pires for Barlavento newspaper.