Short Stories

Saturday, 12th June 2021 Portugal wasn’t handed democracy on a plate. And the way we treat the planet is the way we treat other people. We take what we can get. Somehow, humans are by their very nature exploiters and thieves, staring enviously at the things others have and they don’t. Only when we look into the mirror and question and challenge ourselves are we given the unique opportunity to reflect. Are we really the person we think we are? If you want to be treated well, why do you treat other people, animals and nature badly? This is a …

Saturday the 29th of May 2021 There is no me (you) and my (your) environment, only me (you) as an integrative part of this one world: an integral part rather than separated from it. There is a close bond between ourselves and nature, the living environment making up this planet. Is this true? Since starting to live in the forest I feel closer to the elements, now more so than ever. What does this mean in practice? For one, I’ve already had to familiarise myself with the consequences of climate change several times over. And I feel that I have …

Saturday 15th May 2021 Climate-friendly travel is in everyone’s interest. Many of us are now already planning their next trip. How about a long-distance hike through the natural and cultural landscape of Portugal?  Those who don’t want to forsake their holiday entirely should calculate the CO2 burden resulting from their trip. ECO123 recommends climate-friendly travel by train & bus, by bike and on foot. The Via Algarviana (300 km), the Fisherman’s Trail, part of the Rota Vicentina (223 km) and the Grande Rota Vale do Côa (220 km) for instance are three long-distance hikes out of many different trails on …

Sábado, dia 1. de maio 2021 I really don’t know what drives the majority of humankind to get a smartphone? As for myself, I am absolutely in the minority camp in this respect. Over half of humanity owns such a flat plaything. It seems to me I belong to the few non-smart people. The name alone, “smart” phone is a joke. All these smart people have spent hundreds of euros on this and can now use it to take pretty pictures. Pretty pictures is something I can take too; for this I use my old professional camera. And I am …

Saturday the 24th of April 2021 So here’s the bad news. The EU counts among the major drivers of forest destruction. This is shown in a report just published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) looking at the consequences of international trade on deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats between 2005 and 2017. This means that 16 per cent of global tropic forest logging in connection with international trade are down to the EU. This places the EU at number two in the „World Ranking of Forest Destroyers“, behind China (24 per cent) and ahead of India (9 per …

Saturday 17 th April 2021 This week, on returning home from the post office, where I keep a P.O. box which I pay an annual fee of 60 euro plus 23 % VAT for, I found a letter outside my front door. The letter had been artfully placed at right angles next to the foot mat. There it lay on the naked step, and I was asking myself which civil servant (or subcontracted company) might have left their office to head out into the fresh air to my place to tell me in this manner that once more, as happens …

Faro, Saturday 10th April 2021 Any reconstruction following a devastating fire starts with the removal of rubbish caused by humans: charred plastic, broken glass, bent metal. The Estaminé restaurant, the only building on the island called Ilha Deserta in Faro, which burnt to the ground on 2 March, is now scheduled to be rebuilt. The difficulties with the insurance company that José Vargas, owner of the restaurant had to contend with, seem to be resolved. And in order to emphasise its affinity with nature and its sustainability the architecture will again consist entirely of wood, while the building will be …

Saturday 27th March 2021 Airbus, Lufthansa, TAP, Renault, TUI and so on… The future? Yes please! But what kind of future? This is the question I am asking myself today. After this leaden time, where many were complaining about the restrictions, nothing will be as it was before. Or do we want try and stare down to the abyss? Maybe the news hasn’t reached everyone yet? Or perhaps I’m a pessimist? Allow me to just mention one example. In today’s economy, many jobs are simply being cancelled. Let’s be honest with ourselves here. We have too many hotels, too many …

Saturday, 20th March 2021 It was a tragic accident. He fell at home, in his garden, from a height of three metres, off his ladder, sustaining lethal injuries. My friend Carlos has now entered the eternal hunting grounds. For me he was an Indian, who came to Monchique from the Alentejo and a foreigner in a community, a friend of nature, wise and modest, calm and well-read, a rather quiet but always attentive fellow. There will be no second Carlos in this world. He gifted us wonderful trees, two pecan nut trees, a chestnut and a cork oak, a token …