On 2 June 2022, the Annual Monitoring Visit of the LIFE Fluvial Project was carried out by the monitor of NEEMO (European monitoring entity of LIFE projects), Itxaso Mora, in the Protected Landscape of the Bertiandos and São Pedro de Arcos Lagoons, organised by the Portuguese team of the LIFE FLUVIAL project (LIFE16 NAT/ES/000771), of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (Centre for Forestry Studies), in collaboration with the Municipality of Ponte de Lima (CMPL). Representatives of LIFE FLUVIAL project partners also participated in the visit, namely INDUROT of the University of Oviedo (project coordinator), IBADER of the University of Santiago de Compostela and the company TRAGSA.
The day began with the reception of the participants and a welcome session by Gonçalo Rodrigues, Ponte de Lima’s councillor for: Environment and Green Spaces | Sport, Leisure and Youth | Forests and Biodiversity | Public Works, at the Environmental Interpretation Centre of the Bertiandos and São Pedro de Arcos Lagoons (coordinates: 41°45’52.48 “N / 8°38’33.26 “W). Then, the LIFE FLUVIAL team, coordinated by Dr. Patricia María Rodríguez-González, researcher at the Centre for Forestry Studies of the Instituto Superior de Agronomía, conducted a guided tour of the intervention areas of the LIFE FLUVIAL project, in which the methodologies and results obtained in the actions of conservation and restoration of riparian and marsh habitats of Community importance, specifically the habitat 91E0*pt3 (Wetlands and marsh willows), were presented. The interventions carried out include the control and removal of invasive alien species, as well as passive and active restoration actions to improve the structure and functionality of the Estorãos river floodplain habitats. The day culminated with a bicycle ride along the Lima River to visit the points where LIFE FLUVIAL project advertising and signage equipment has been installed, from the town of Ponte de Lima to the project intervention areas.
