Volunteers remove over 30 tonnes of waste from Ria Formosa

More than 30 tonnes of waste have been removed from the Ria Formosa during the first clean-up organised under Projeto Chilreta, a new environmental initiative launched by the Nova Meta Association, a group founded by young people from Faro.

The clean-up took place in the Ludo area of Faro and brought together dozens of volunteers who spent the morning helping restore part of the Ria Formosa Natural Park.

In total, participants collected 30,305 kilograms of waste, including 29.3 tonnes of construction waste, furniture and other bulky items. They also removed 490kg of plastic, 350kg of general waste, 150kg of glass and 15kg of paper.

As the association points out, the figures highlight the scale of illegal dumping in one of Portugal’s most important protected wetlands, home to a rich diversity of wildlife and recognised as one of the Algarve’s most valuable natural habitats, leading to “serious consequences to the biodiversity and environmental quality of the Ria Formosa”.

Projeto Chilreta was created to help tackle this problem through regular clean-up campaigns while also raising public awareness about environmental protection and encouraging greater community involvement.

As part of the initiative, the association recently installed a waste collection container at Faro Beach, encouraging beachgoers to collect and properly dispose of litter they find during their visit. The aim, organisers say, is to encourage people to leave the beach cleaner than they found it, “because the preservation of nature is everyone’s responsibility”.

The Nova Meta Association thanked the dozens of volunteers who took part in the inaugural clean-up, as well as partner organisations that helped make the initiative possible, including Europontal, Faro Council, Fagar, Algar, UGT Algarve, Grupo Mare, Visit Algarve Portugal, Montenegro Parish Council and the RunShine Run Club Faro.

Further clean-up events are planned over the coming months, with organisers inviting residents and visitors alike to take part in helping protect and preserve the Ria Formosa.

Michael Bruxo

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.