From gc-mammal@ifrance.com Tue May 1 13:10:18 2001 Received: from mxu1.u.washington.edu (mxu1.u.washington.edu [140.142.32.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.03) with ESMTP id f41KAE9102374 for ; Tue, 1 May 2001 13:10:14 -0700 Received: from lh11.opsion.fr (lh11.opsion.fr [212.73.208.237]) by mxu1.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.04) with SMTP id f41KADb22800 for ; Tue, 1 May 2001 13:10:13 -0700 Received: from 193.249.237.202 [193.249.237.202] by lh11.opsion.fr; Tue, 1 May 2001 20:12:37 GMT From: "Guillaume Chapron" To: consbio@u.washington.edu Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 22:10:55 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/enriched; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Dam threats endangered lynx in Portugal : updates CC: CARNIVORE-L@nrm.se, MAMMAL-L@SIVM.SI.EDU Message-ID: <3AEF346F.10254.DD5C1@localhost> X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12cFR) ImpactSOS LYNXTimes New Roman Arialtel: (+351) 283 933015Times New Roman ArialPRESS RELEASE 30/04/2001 email: sos.lynx@clix.ptTimes New Roman  ArialEurope's largest lake in prehistoric findings 'cover-up' scandalTimes New Roman Arial Black'Illegal' dam faces legal challenge as EC investigates costsTimes New Roman ArialThe controversial mega-dam at Alqueva, Portugal faces new legal challenges this week as European Commissioners prepare to visit the site to investigate alleged financial mismanagement of the GB POUNDS 1 billion project, part-funded by EU taxpayers.Times New Roman ArialCampaigners against the dam say that a 135 square kilometre area inhabited by the highly endangered Iberian Lynx is being illegally cleared to make way for the dam. SOS LYNX, which first alerted the international community to previously unseen official documents showing confirmed lynx sightings where the dam is being built, has filed official complaints with the European Commission demanding that work be suspended. Times New Roman ArialThe group says the clearances contravene EU legislation, including the Habitats Directive, and is demanding the Commission investigate why an official environmental impact assessment of the project - which warned that several species of animals, fish and plants could become extinct - failed to include the Iberian Lynx, which the EU lists as a 'priority protected species'. EU laws prohibit development in areas which can interfere with lynx habitats.Times New Roman ArialRepresentatives of the European Commission are set to visit the Alqueva area on Thursday (May 3) after the repeated failure of the Portuguese authorities to deliver progress reports demanded by Commissioners into how EU money is being spent on the project, to create Europe's largest artificial lake. According to campaigners against the dam, Commission staff have had to resort to asking Portuguese environmental groups for copies of official government documents. There have been allegations that EU Cohesion Fund money has been illegally used to build a hydroelectric complex at the site. The project has also been plagued by delays, including the discovery that the main dam wall - which is nearing completion - has been built on a double seismic fault-line.Times New Roman ArialA new row has now broken out following the discovery of prehistoric Stone Age engravings in areas due to be inundated later this year. The development consortium responsible for the dam, EDIA, had earlier said they had carried out 'an exhaustive survey' costing GB POUNDS 3 million which had found nothing. However, amateur archaeologists last week found a series of open-air engravings along a 10 kilometre stretch of the banks of the River Guadiana which EDIA plans to submerge. Some were found a few metres from an old water mill which EDIA documents show was surveyed just months ago. Experts today confirmed they dated back to the Bronze Age.Times New Roman ArialIt has now emerged that EDIA were told three years ago about almost identical engravings a few miles away on the Spanish side of the river. EDIA says that it had planned to re-open its study but - according to spokesman Antonio Carlos Silva - had not done so 'because of the weather we have been having'. Times New Roman ArialArchaeologists, who say the findings could date back as far as 20,000 years, have called for work on the dam to be suspended pending a 'truly independent' international commission to study the engravings. The International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO) called the latest developments 'serious and scandalous', and has demanded an urgent audience with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio. Mila Abreu, spokeswoman for IFRAO, added: 'Scientific work of this nature cannot be carried out by institutions run by political nominees.'Times New Roman ArialThe findings are being hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in recent times. Ironically, they are almost identical to Ice Age engravings found at Foz Coa, in north- eastern Portugal in the 1990s, in an area that was also due to have been submerged by a mega-dam. The engravings at Foz Coa were kept secret for two years before the whistle was blown by a British archaeologists and an international campaign lobbied successfully for the dam to be abandoned. Times New Roman ArialManuel Calado, Professor of Archaeology at Lisbon University, said of the Alqueva scandal: 'This is another Coa.' However, the Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres - whose first major decision on coming to power was to order stop to work at Foz Coa - has said that 'the importance of Alqueva to the national economy' meant that Alqueva will go ahead regardless. Times New Roman ArialCampaigners argue that there is no justification for the dam - which is officially being built to provide irrigation for local farmers - pointing out that the area's existing irrigation network is used at less than 50 per cent capacity. EDIA has in fact been promoting the new dam as a tourist facility at international trade fairs, and dozens of multi-million pound planning applications have been submitted to local authorities by multinational corporations to build new golf courses, casinos, health spas, private island resorts and water sports facilities in and around the new lake.Times New Roman ArialEnvironmentalists, meanwhile, have dubbed the scheme 'Europe's biggest environment catastrophe of the 21st century'. They point out that the scheme will inevitably lead to greater desertification as well as pollution in one of the last wild woodland valleys of Europe. Times New Roman ArialSiobhan Mitchell, international spokeswoman for SOS LYNX, added:Times New Roman Arial'This area is one of the most ecologically rich in Europe. Official reports show that several species of animals, plants and fish found nowhere else in the world will be lost forever because of this dam.Times New Roman Arial'It is also one of the best lynx habitats still left. It is incredible that when such a unique species as the Iberian Lynx is teetering on the brink of extinction, that one of its prime habitats should be deliberately destroyed. Official documents obtained by SOS LYNX candidly admit the clearance operation alone may lead to lynxes being killed or injured.' ENDSTimes New Roman ______________________________________________________________________________ ifrance.com, l'email gratuit le plus complet de l'Internet ! vos emails depuis un navigateur, en POP3, sur Minitel, sur le WAP... http://www.ifrance.com/_reloc/email.emailif .