Quercus contests cork oak harvesting for solar power plant

Cutting 190 specimens in Santarém and Cartaxo was authorized by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, which will carry out inspections.

The environmentalist association Quercus contests the felling of around 200 cork oaks in a forest area, for which a “mega” photovoltaic plant has been approved, which will cover 518 hectares in the municipalities of Cartaxo and Santarém. The Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) informs that it has authorized “the cutting of 190 cork oaks, all of them isolated” and promises an inspection of the site, to “verify the conditions” in which the felling is being carried out.

The Declaration of Environmental Impact (DIA), issued in 2021, determines that the implementation of the park “must respect, whenever possible, the maximum preservation of specimens of the species Quercus suber (cork oak) and other trees such as the cerquinho oak and stone pine “. However, according to Quercus, this condition was not complied with, with the “illegal” cutting of some cork oaks.

The ICNF clarifies that it gave authorization for the felling of 190 trees and that, “at no time was the cutting of cork oaks in stand being evaluated”. The problem, claims a Quercus source, is that there are specimens whose cutting “was not authorized”, a situation that the ICNF promises to investigate.

More than 650 thousand panels

The project, promoted by Escalabis Solar, an associated company of Energi Innovation, which it was not possible to contact, foresees the installation of more than 650 thousand solar panels, with an estimated installed production capacity of 390 GWh/year.

According to the Environmental Impact Study, it covers “rustic land” of Quinta do Falcão de Cima, located next to the A1 motorway, in the parish of Almoster, Cartaxo, but also in areas of neighboring villages, already in Santarém.

“Where until recently there was a large eucalyptus plantation”, with some stands and scattered specimens of cork oaks, “is now being converted into a new industrial area lined with panels”, denounces Quercus.

In a statement, the association contests the approval of projects of this size, considering that they are “unsustainable” and that it should rather focus on “more suitable areas, such as the roofs of industrial and residential buildings”.