The decree, signed by the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, and the Secretary of State for Forests, Rui Ladeira Pereira, declared these interventions as being of “indispensable public utility.” As a result, 13 adult cork oak trees and 40 young cork oak trees will be cut down.
The government officials justify the authorization to fell cork oaks due to the “lack of valid alternatives for the location of the project.”
The felling authorization is conditional on the implementation of a compensation project presented by the project owner, Infraestruturas de Portugal, which plans to plant 122 cork oak trees on a plot of land belonging to Baldios de Moimenta e Rabiçais, located in the parish of Cavez, in the municipality of Cabeceiras de Basto (Braga).
The project in question involves the construction of the road-rail interface/EN14, including the execution of four roundabouts and their connections to the existing road network. It also includes the construction of a new bridge over the Ave River, on land extending 2,436 meters, which flanks an old railway line, located in the Union of Parishes of Bougado (São Martinho and Santiago), in the municipality of Trofa (Porto), and in the parishes of Ribeirão and Lousado, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão (Braga).
In the decree published today in the Official Gazette, the Government emphasizes the “relevant public, economic and social interest of the project,” as well as its sustainability, as it will improve accessibility to the Trofa Hospital and the railway station. Furthermore, they add, it will ensure the compatibility of the layout with the expansion of the Continental Mabor and Continental Tire Industry factories, as well as improve the connection road between EN14 and EM 508, planned in the context of the project to improve accessibility to the business areas of Famalicão Sul, Ribeirão and Lousado.
Funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, the project will also ensure the completion of the EN14 bypass, connecting to the roundabout on EN14, which has already been executed.