28th May 2004 will
see a new large-scale eco-tourism
scheme launched by BioRegional and it’s partner WWF
in Portugal. The development is part of an overall
project that covers an area of 5,300 hectares and brings
together sustainable housing, nature conservation,
reforestation and ecofriendly transport. Work will begin
over the next few months on the 6,000-house, €1billion
scheme in Mata de Sesimbra, just south of Lisbon.
The development, which replaces
a proposal to build a
conventional tourist resort, will be completely powered by
renewable energy, dramatically reduce waste to landfill
– to just 5 per cent of the Portuguese national average
– and use rainwater collection and waste water recycling
systems to achieve huge cuts in domestic water
consumption and irrigation. Furthermore, more than half
the food served in tourist facilities will come from local
sources. There are also plans to create a sustainable
transport network – featuring for example shared and
non-petrol vehicles, and a cycle route encompassing the
entire site. The aim is to eliminate the need for private
cars in the area.
The project includes a 4,800-hectare
nature reserve in
which habitat corridors, linking surrounding protected
areas will create safe havens for vulnerable nesting birds
such as the Bonelli eagle. The site will also be home to
one of Europe's biggest privately financed forest
restoration projects which aims to recreate native
indigenous woodland – mainly cork oak and umbrella pine
– replacing the existing eucalyptus and non native pine
forest.
WWF projects that over the next
20 years tourism in the
Mediterranean will rise by 50 per cent to an estimated 350
million people visiting the region each year.
"Tourism is eating into our
natural capital. It can often
have a very negative impact on the environment, "said Dr
Claude Martin. "New models such as Mata de Sesimbra are
vital if tourism is to go hand in hand with sustainable
development."
The Mata de Sesimbra project is
the first of a series of
ambitious sustainable development schemes to be
launched by One Planet Living, a joint initiative of WWF
and BioRegional – development partners in London’s
‘BedZED’ sustainable housing project. The initiative
aims
to set up "One Planet" living communities of some 5,000
people in the USA, China, South Africa, Australia, and
other European countries, such as France. Each
community will include schools, offices, factories,
transport networks and health and leisure facilities.
"It is time to switch
from words to action and put
sustainable development into practice," said Pooran
Desai, Director of BioRegional. "One Planet living is about
developing solutions to some of today's greatest
challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss."
For
more information on One Planet Living follow this link |
