Monchique’s new Feldspar Wars

This is the second time in 15 years that Monchique has had to stand firm against plans for mineral prospecting on the south-eastern side of Picota (an area of 1612 square metres, running from just above Fornalha, through Corte Grande up to Alto de Baixo, and another area nearby of 1000 square metres at Carapitotas).

This time, the firms behind the bids are Felmica – Minerais Industriais, S.A., and Sifucel Sílicas, S.A.

Felmica is part of the MOTA group - described as “a system supplier for ceramic raw materials”. It is a group that has been concentrating on increasing exports since 2003, and has invested well over 20 million euros in Felmica, which currently extracts hundreds of thousands of tons of feldspar annually from other quarries throughout Portugal.

Sifucel Sílicas S.A. is based in Rio Maior, and part of the Grupo Parapedra, which deals in stone quarrying and sand extraction.

According to sources we spoke to at the Department of Energy and Geology, Felmica has been waiting to present their bid for mineral prospecting rights in Picota for the last eight years.

“They knew the old mayor was dead against the plan, and were waiting for the administration to change”, Dr António Correia Gomes told us.

But if anything, incoming mayor Rui André is even more against the plan than his predecessor.

“It would be totally wrong for the area – which is part of a REN (Reserva Ecológica Nacional) and protected by Rede Natura 2000. I am completely against it, and have written to the Department of Energy and Geology with my objections”.

He added that since news of the bid had spread, he had been approached “by various companies” to find out what his position was. As happened during the last bid, other companies are interested in getting involved. In 1996, interest came from Germany and the US.

“I have to develop this borough,” André told us. “I may be an environmentalist, but I also have to run things so that we progress as a municipality.

“In other words, I am not saying there won’t be a quarry somewhere else in the borough, in the future.”

“Monchique is extremely rich in minerals, even metals”. (Indeed, a subsidiary of the Norwegian «Wega Mining Group» put in for a licence to prospect for gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc in and around Monchique not long ago).

But while the Mayor’s support has heartened residents campaigning against the scheme, they’re still concerned for the future.

Veterans of the 1996 campaign recall the chilling bottom-line message about the mining of feldspar being in the national interest.

It’s a message echoed again in this bid. Dr Correia Gomes told «Algarve123” “sometimes, even environmental concerns have to be weighed against national concerns”.

But he added: “It is really a question of dialogue. With so many complaints received already (and neither bid has been published in Diário da República yet), the state couldn’t feasibly issue prospecting licences - as the companies would have too hard a job ahead of them.”

He explained that, by law, landowners can refuse prospecting companies access, and then the whole issue has to go to court.

“These kind of firms try NOT to go to court, believe me”, he said.

“If another area of less environmental importance could be suggested, that could be very good news”, he concluded.

However, it may not be that simple. Geologist Vasco Valadares, 33, now completing his Phd in Lisbon, did his Master’s thesis on “O complexo alcalino de Monchique” (alcaline rock structures of Monchique). He mapped out the area, “going into all the hidden places, looking at every outcrop”, and although feldspar can be found on 60% of the earth’s crust, there are not many alternatives for it in Monchique. Indeed, the area southeast of Picota is one of the best places (see map) – and the feldspar there is considered to be “unique” (unusually high in quality).

Rui André had mentioned in passing that “maybe north of Fóia would be a good place for a quarry”, but there is almost no listing of feldspar deposits in that area in Valadares’ study.

Thus, the residents’ fight continues – and the group coordinating activities means to be 100 per cent organised.

Group chairman Ewen Hentall has experience of being “on the other side” in battles like this – he recently took early retirement from one of the world’s largest construction supply manufacturers.

“Companies that want to start mining or quarrying don’t want to deal with an organised group. It makes things much harder for them,” he told us. “That’s why we’ve got to stay united; stay informed, and keep getting our message out.”

The group has already got an online petition with nearly 1,300 signatures (and rising) calling on the Department of Energy and Geology to veto prospection bids, and they are busy coming up with press releases and flyers. They will be at Monchique’s “Feira dos Enchidos” next weekend publicising their cause.

As Hentall explained: “None of us want a quarry, or a mine of any sort in this area. There are all sorts of hazards involved – disruption to the underground aquifers (which we all rely on for our water) being one of the principal environmental concerns. Then there’s the disruption that something like this would cause surface wildlife.”

The group’ secretary Annette Matthias fought prospecting plans in 1996 and told us: “Anything like this, in this beautiful part of Monchique, would be absolutely terrible. It would destroy all the beauty we have here – and destroy businesses people have begun in eco-tourism. We cannot let it happen.”

For more information, just click to download the "Impactos Ambientais da exploração de recursos geológicos na serra de Monchique"study presented by Monchique borough council's geographer Eduardo Duarte at the public hearing attended by representatives from the DGEG and Ministry for the Economy on 23rd June 2011.

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Residents united against Feldspar prospecting

More and more residents have joined the civic movement against prospecting for feldspar on the southern slopes of Picota, Monchique. Last Thursday 30th July, two of the members of A Nossa Terra, the environmental group fighting the latest plans for quarries in the area presented their objections, in English and in Portuguese, to Monchique's municipal assembly:

The whole Felmica and Sifucel story has been giving us headaches but there is almost always a flip side - good slant on whatever happens. The positive side to this story is that so many more people are starting to realize that the Serra is a very special place. It has a very pleasant mild climate, it has the purest air of the whole European continent and it is a natural park that has all the potential to develop further into an attractive tourist destination - especially for tourists that seek health improvement or ways of combating age-related problems.

Since ancient history, Monchique’s thermal waters have been known for the health-giving properties. Caldas de Monchique is living proof of this, as well as the several Fontes Santas visited by Kings in days gone by. These days, we have the Longevity Wellness Resort, next to Caldas.

The resort gives Monchique a huge “leg-up” when it comes to establishing itself globally as a health-related tourist destination. Any quarry activity will destroy this developing image forever. It is a hundred times more difficult to build a name then to lose one – and if this were allowed to happen it would be a tragic lost opportunity for the whole Monchique area.

Indeed, for Monchique, there can be no advantages in having any further quarry activity. It would bring with it minimal new job opportunities and leave only destruction in its wake. A quarry would actually reduce the number of existing jobs and job opportunities in the area because tourists would simply stop coming here. Nobody wants to spend their holidays in the middle of industrial activity with noise, heavy traffic and dust.

The Longevity Wellness Resort, on the other hand, is a good example of sustainable tourism. On a small plot of land it has created almost 100 jobs with many specialized people. At this moment 30% of these jobs go to local workers from Monchique - a quarry would never offer that. On top of this, the resort offers its workers training and education. Workers become skilled and specialized and obtain the possibility for having a career. Therefore the 30% figure of local employment will grow over the years.

There are 195 rooms or suites with a total capacity for almost 800 guests. These guests visit local restaurants, shops and cafés and this translates into cash flow for the people of Monchique. The resort has it own kitchen and buys as much as possible from local providers. This excellent example will attract other business people to start investing in Monchique. It may also encourage local investors to start developing health-related activities.

In other words, quarry plans translate into turning Monchique into a dust-filled cemetery, while the development of sustainable tourism will effectively create a rebirth of the beautiful Serra.

Of course, this cannot happen on its own. There are tasks for the Câmara and the juntas to organize. They can offer training, courses in small-scale marketing, presentation and understanding trends; understanding the needs of tourists, as well as professional training, for example for waiting staff with basic foreign language skills; how to develop client-friendly attitudes, how to run one’s own business and cooperate with other businesses.

Accepting that competition is good as long as we work together to get diversity in what we offer, there are many opportunities to study for the future.

This is something for the Municipal assembly to reflect on. Definitely “NO” to the quarries - but there are also many “YES” ideas to investigate and develop.

It is also important to take economic impact analysis. This should be an initiative from the Camara or Assembly as it is not mandatory like environmental impact analysis.

We are convinced that economic impact analysis would show the disastrous effects long- and medium-term of quarries that would lead to drastic local job losses and eventual depopulation of the Serra.

Unless we make a stand now, it is almost inevitable that once one quarry company is allowed to prospect for feldspar, other bids will - each one harder to fight without strong economic impact analysis back-up.

Therefore, we are requesting that either the Câmara or the Assembly contract this economical impact analysis and investigate forms of training-up local people in collaboration with local hotel and restaurant owners.

We also request that the PDM is changed in a way that future mining is out of the question. No to quarries, YES to a sustainable future!