Portugal

Horst adored going to the cinema. He just had too little time, and even less money, to be able to buy a ticket every time. He was lucky enough, however, to live right next to the cinema. On the first floor, above his bar, there was a framed picture in the living room, which covered a hole in the wall, like the one in a camera obscura. One day, he told me his secret. He took the picture down and showed me, with a wink, what could be seen through the hole. And so he swept me away to the …

Fritjof Capra v. René Descartes The mechanical world view of things presupposes simple linear mathematical thinking. Primary school maths, year 3: taking the example of an area measuring 100 metres by 100 metres, which makes 10,000 square metres or one hectare, an agro-industrial farmer harvests around ten tonnes of fruit from the area of one hectare. From then on, this numerical value counts as the measure of all values for a business plan. You can use it to calculate your profit in advance, get easier access to EU subsidies, or even a bank loan. So, the investors’ expectations about the …

My most beautiful tree in Lousã. I had made an appointment with the filmmaker and cameraman João Pedro Plácido (aged 39)* at Coimbra station. We planned to walk together through a mountain forest in the Serra de Lousã. There, we wanted to look for a vivid memory of his, the most beautiful tree of his youth. At the age of 16 during a mountain hike, Plácido was walking on the path from Castelo de Lousã via Talasnal (3 km) and Vaqueirinho (2.5 km) up to Catarredor (1.1 km), one of Portugal’s famous schist villages. He was looking for herbs. Dusk …

What is the connection between a Nepalese migrant worker in Odemira, the biggest municipality in the Alentejo, who works in an agro-industrial company like the British-Belgian-Portuguese Vitacress (RAR group) or the German Gemüsering GmbH Stuttgart*(4) – along with many other multinational agro-businesses – and the Portuguese forest fires? You might think, at least at first glance, none at all; there is no direct link, and anyone who made one would possibly be doing so with malicious intent. But it’s not so simple in a globally networked world, where capital for investments can quickly be shifted from one country to another. …

Nuno Bicho, aged 53, says that “finding a new site is like a personal journey into the past without recourse to science fiction.” He was at primary school when he felt drawn towards Archaeology, but it was by chance that he studied History. Later he received his PhD in Anthropology (Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas) and Archaeology (University of the Algarve) and he is currently Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB) at the University of the Algarve. Alongside others, he is leading an international project, a quarter of which is funded by the …

An eco-company in transition Herdade Freixo do Meio is an agroforestry company with 560 hectares of good farming land, situated in the Baixo Alentejo, close to Montemor-o-Novo, roughly 100 kilometres to the east of Lisbon. The company’s business adheres to ethical standards of agroecology, based on the medieval ecosystem of the montado (pastureland planted with groves of cork-oak and holm-oak trees)*, and practises permaculture in order to guarantee future generations the basic resources needed to enjoy a life of food sovereignty. Through its users’ cooperative, the farmer Alfredo Cunhal Sendim (aged 52) organises a space for participants where the community …

  Teve lugar recentemente o Seminário “Agricultura Sustentável” em Alte (Loulé), que reuniu agricultores, peritos em solos, profissionais no desenvolvimento de comunidades, políticos e estudantes. O Seminário foi organizado pela Câmara Municipal de Loulé, a Associação In Loco, e a Escola Professional Cândido Guerreiro (EPALTE), com o objetivo de dar a conhecer aos agricultores alternativas perante o desafio das alterações climáticas, custos de produção elevados e baixos preços de venda. O tema do clima e do solo foi abordado nas duas sessões principais, por Alberto Espírito Santo e João Tiago Carapau, da WeConsultants. Alexandra Pestana, da EPALTE partilhou experiências na …

How we can become a part of the water cycle, using water without using it up. Only plant a variety of indigenous tree and bush species together; Fit gutters and build water tanks to collect the water from roofs; Only farm organically; don’t use any agro-chemicals in the garden, instead use goat or horse dung; Don’t seal off any areas in the garden or farm (e.g. with concrete) or cover them with plastic sheeting. The rainwater must be able to seep into the ground; Break up monocultures in the garden too, at least with hedges, or leave a corner of …

Droughts, desertification, heat waves, floods: the consequences of climate change are intensified by a water balance that is out of equilibrium globally. In some parts of the earth, farmers, different initiatives and landowners are meeting this challenge with simple, local measures – and successfully. The principle they follow is always the same: rain should seep into the ground where it falls. Decentralisation instead of centralisation. One successful example of this is Tamera, in the municipality of Odemira in the Alentejo. Every organism needs water. Whether an area has sufficient water or not determines its value for everything that lives there, …

There is little in life that is black and white. However, the present-day river Tejo (the Tagus in English) is just that. It’s black on one side and white on the other. Transparent water alongside dirty water. This separation of the waters in the middle of the river is not due to force majeure in the classic, divine sense of the expression, but rather in a much more contemporary sense: the pollution of the river Tejo is due to the major paper factories on its banks in Vila Velha de Rodão. Until recently, no one had the courage to point …