In a statement sent to Lusa News Agency, the Environment Ministry said Mouchão da Póvoa was in an “advanced state of deterioration” and noted that a request had been made to the Portuguese Environmental Association (APA) to draw up a “plan for intervention, co-financed by the Environmental Fund.”
The statement also said that the affected area is “still in the public domain” but, as it “has private use, the company that owns it would have to carry out the work.”
Mouchão da Póvoa, an island with an area of 1,200 hectares, is one of three river islands in the Vila Franca de Xira area (district of Lisbon) and is used for agricultural activities.
A year ago, the Vila Franca de Xira local authority alerted APA to a serious breach of one of the dykes protecting the river island, asking the island’s owner to carry out an “urgent intervention.”
The situation of Mouchão da Póvoa has already led to a number of demonstrations of concern both on a local and national level, including the head of the CDS-PP party, Assunção Cristas who said on Monday that the current state of the island “puts the biodiversity of the Tagus estuary at risk.”