Clive Viney is the co-author (with Ray Tipper) of the book “Algarve Wildlife: The Natural Year.” As a nature lover and a long-term resident of Tavira, he is alarmed at the erosion of land and the destruction of natural habitats in the nature reserve near Castro Marim. Part of the Reserve has been given over to “the latest fad of …
Read More »
People have short memories. They barely notice slow changes, because they are always moving on, without paying any real attention to a place on a regular basis. Recognition of the value of nature suffers because of this deficit in human awareness. Increasingly people are living in urban areas, in a permanent state of unease, in a space and a time …
Read More »Traveller: a kind of historian who goes in search of the identity of a group of people, undergoing different experiences, documenting them and learning from them; tourist: he who experiences products designed by the tourist industry, the “fast-food” version of the traveller. Travel writing on the Algarve is full of travellers who feel the pulse of the land and its …
Read More »
As a researcher working on the governance of energy transitions in 2016, I was fascinated by the relatively slow growth of solar energy in Portugal despite the amazing potential. I crafted a research project to explore this with a focus on accountability relations, and successfully competed for a position at the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation in Norway, where …
Read More »Finally, some good news. António da Encarnação from Monchique is 81 years old, and he has had to watch many forest fires over the course of his long lifetime. In 2018, he lost his home, lots of chestnut trees and cork oaks; in 2016, he lost another home. But he has never lost heart, or his good spirits. António has …
Read More »
Lisbon/Berlin. Cities are crucial for climate change to be brought to a halt or even avoided. Long-distance transport of food products causes many CO2 emissions. Using local resources can reduce these emissions. Millions of tons of food are transported to our cities each year. This transport brings food from all over the world, which leaves farm gates by road, rail …
Read More »
Things are taking more time. Those who didn’t have any fire insurance last year, when the fire reduced the forest and 71 dwellings to ashes, now have to have the patience of a saint. There are those in Monchique who are really seeing themselves tested. There have been only three houses in the meantime that have had approval from the …
Read More »
The landscaping project plans for the planting of 1,000 different species of native trees and shrubs in the Barranco do Esgravatadouro valley. The first 50 young trees have been planted since 30 December: various species of oak (quercus canariensis and quercus ilex, among others), cork oak, ash (fraxinus excelsior), chestnut, walnut, beech, willow, lime, maple, birch, elm, magnolia, camellia, as …
Read More »
Energy communities want to start up in Portugal “How can I produce energy collectively?” You can’t because the law doesn’t allow it. The legal obstacles in Portugal against autonomy and energy decentralisation came to the fore during the BEACON workshop in Setúbal. Examples of projects and energy communities brought from Greek and German cities would be illegal in Portugal. As …
Read More »
Lavrar o Mar, the ambitious cultural project developed by the theatre directors Madalena Victorino and Giacomo Scalisi, is due to begin its third season. It is Bread and Circus for the people of the Costa Vicentina, in Aljezur, and the hills of Monchique, scourged by fires. The programme was presented to the press – not by Manuel Marreiros and José …
Read More »
Eco123 Revista da Economia e Ecologia
