Porto Murdeira’s Environmental Platform- Sal
At present, there are 7 real estate projects being developed on the East Coast of Sal, all of which are aimed at the tourism sector. While this can seem like a wonderful prospect for the country, I also understand how many are concerned with the negative impact these developments may have on the island. As a Capeverdean myself I share such concerns, particularly those related to the environment. You see, Cape Verde’s biodiversity is of great global importance as it is home to endemic plants, birds, insects and marine species. Thousands of turtles nest in Sal and Boa Vista every year, making Cape Verde the second most important nesting site of the Atlantic Ocean.
Planificaciones Mundiales S.L. has taken such matters very seriously. Porto de Murdeira, 504 hectares of land, is the largest tourist development on the island of Sal, and with such a project naturally comes a feeling of responsibility and duty to the island and its inhabitants. According to national law, one is obliged to construct at least 80 meters from the ocean. Planificaciones Mundiales S.L., conscience of the importance of such a law has decided to construct 180 meters from the ocean. Originally, our Marina was to be built in an area that is environmentally sensitive as turtles use it as a nesting area. Taking this into consideration, Planificaciones Mundiales altered the entire project in order to accomodate the marina in a completely different location so as to avoid negatively affecting the many loggerhead turtles that nest in Sal each year. As a result, our project’s marina was the only one to be approved by the government as other developers refused to alter their projects for environmental reasons. In order to maintain the latter issues high on our list of priorities, Planificaciones has invited Luis Felipe Lopez Jurado, a well known biologist from the Canary Islands, to join our team of experts and professionals at Planificaicones Mundiales. Luis Felipe is the Cape Verde Project Director for the Canarian Institute of Marine Science and Professor at the Universidad Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
As a Capeverdean, if I am going to be part of a project that will affect my island by creating more than 50,000 beds, you better believe that project will be worth it.