Nine Portuguese non-governmental environmental organizations (ENGOs) appealed for the urgent creation of the Salgados Lagoon Nature Reserve, in the Algarve, warning of the need for integrated management of this wetland area. The appeal follows recent reports of fish, birds, and crab deaths in the Ribeira de Alcantarilha, caused by botulism episodes due to high temperatures and low water levels. The signatory organizations emphasize that these problems cannot continue to be treated as isolated issues.
The proposal for the creation of the nature reserve, which covers more than 400 hectares in the municipality of Silves, was under public consultation between December 2020 and January 2021, receiving more than 800 contributions. However, almost four years later, the reserve has still not been created. The proposed protected area includes the Salgados Lagoon, the Ribeira de Alcantarilha, the Pêra-Alcantarilha salt marsh, and the Espiche stream.
The area in question hosts 12 habitats of community interest, including two priority habitats such as coastal lagoons, and 13 RELAPE plant species, such as Linaria algarviana, known as "little doves of the Algarve." Among the threatened animal species in the area are the ferruginous duck, the purple heron, the monarch butterfly, the striped turtle, and the Turkish gecko.
The signatory organizations — A Rocha, Almargem, WWF Portugal, Associação Vita Nativa, Liga para a Protecção da Natureza, Quercus, Sociedade Portuguesa de Botânica, Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, and ZERO — advocate that the classification as a nature reserve would allow for the prevention, monitoring, and management of the system as a whole. In addition to the creation of the protected area, they demand the implementation of an integrated management model, regular monitoring of water levels and quality, and prevention measures for drought situations and extreme temperatures.
