The Future of the Alvor Estuary

For more than 21 years the only permanently open field study centre in Portugal is to be found right in the heart of the Alvor Estuary.  The project behind this centre on Quinta da Rocha was started in 1983 by the environmental NGO A Rocha.  Since the beginning the centre has carried out many scientific and monitoring studies on this marshland and developed a programme of regular environmental education activities with schools in the area and within the local community.  The enormous quantity of work that has been carried out together with the incredible data set available for the Alvor Estuary over the last two plus decades makes it a prime “case study” and a place which begs to be conserved for the future.

Each habitat in the Alvor Estuary depends for its survival on the integrity of the ecosystem as a whole. The intricate and dynamically constructed food webs and the interactions of each species with their environment (its geology, hydrology, climate) are important determinants of the area’s richness and future health. The tourism sector, a mass industry in the Algarve and driver of urbanisations and other developments which destroy natural areas, needs to recognise the crucial importance of the Alvor Estuary and its value to the surrounding region. It needs to be understood that in order for there to be a quality tourism industry in the future, the Alvor Estuary and areas like it need to be protected.

The dune ecosystem is particularly sensitive and the trampling of its vegetation can undo years of dune-building activity. Moreover, the dunes are used by various animals (birds, mammals, insects, reptiles) which are easily disturbed by human presence. The estuary is vital for migratory birds, which use it as a staging post on their journeys of thousands of kilometres between wintering and breeding grounds, and which find fewer and fewer such sites available to them. The destruction of Mediterranean wetlands during the last century, due to reclamation, water pollution, over-fishing, and other actions can threaten the survival of these birds, fish and other species. Other impacts include hunting and shooting, overhead electricity cables, oil residues from the sea and inappropriate disposal of toxic substances – these all work to endanger important habitats and the species which depend on them.