The Asociación Pola Defensa da Ría (Association in Defence of the Ria) of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality wh ...

, known as APDR, is a Galician local environmental

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

created in 1987 to address the

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is d ...

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

area. It has over 500 registered members and it holds substantial support within the local community. Through its work, the APDR defends a model of sustainable development based in the rational use of sea and forest resources, and a tourism model not based in the idea of mass tourism. The organisation is open to any citizen interested in the rehabilitation of the

and its adjacent areas. Most of its work is focused in the fight against the main polluting industries, such as the timbering company TAFISA (already relocated) and the

pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or fu ...

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

and

electrochemical Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

complex ENCE-ELNOSA.

Campaigns

The APDR currently has three main active campaigns: *

Paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

s: with a focus on the closure of the operations of th
ENCE

/paper mill in Pontevedra's ria. Likewise, APDR opposes to the construction of new ENCE an
Botnia
pulp mills in Entre Ríos (Argentina) and Río Negro (Uruguay). *

Littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

modification: in particular rejecting the modifications to Marín's port and the construction of a new harbour in Bueu. *

Sustainable forest management Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural ...

. The APDR also focusses on ensuring that certifications awarded by the

Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council A. C. (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. It is an example of a market-ba ...

(FSC) follow the required criteria in the ria area, and that these are observed by the relevant authorities. In addition to the mentioned campaigns, the APDR also entertains parallel campaigns related to the environment and health issues, such as the relation between

mobile phone radiation and health The antennas contained in mobile phones, including smartphones, emit radiofrequency (RF) radiation ( non-ionizing "radio waves" such as microwaves); the parts of the head or body nearest to the antenna can absorb this energy and convert it ...

, protection and rational development of the local

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus a ...

industry, etc.

Collaborations

The APDR works in collaboration with a number of other environmental networks that aim to protect the environment, the Galician rivers Gafos,

Lérez The Lérez is a river in South West Galicia, Spain. The river meets the Atlantic Ocean at Pontevedra, where it creates Pontevedra's ria. The sources of the long stream are in Serra do Candán, in the mountain of San Bieito, in the parish of ...

and Verdugo, and with particular citizens initiatives. The APDR, in association with some of these other groups and/or individuals, have submitted a series of environmental and urbanism proposals to the local government of

. From 1999, the APDR is member of the

Galician Environmental Federation Galician may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Galicia (Spain) ** Galician language ** Galician people ** Gallaeci, a large Celtic tribal federation who inhabited Gallaecia (currently Galicia (Spain) * Something of, from, or related ...

(''Federación Ecoloxista Galega''
FEG
, and from 2002 of the civic platform

Nunca Máis Francisco Rodrigues da Silva also known as "Nunca" is a Brazilian artist who uses a graffiti technique to create images that confront modern urban Brazil with its native past. His name Nunca ("Never" in Portuguese) is an affirmation of his determ ...

Accomplished goals

The APDR initially managed to open investigations on the fulfilment of environmental regulations by ENCE. However, lack of support from the administration at that time reduced the effect of the APDR's early campaigns. It was only from 1999, with the arrival of a new governing team to Pontevedra's City Council, when APDR began to have institutional support and therefore was able to achieve specific goals. The APDR critically backed the local government of Pontevedra, forming an environmental lobby, that eventually forced the relocation of the timbering company TAFISA. In the 2001-2002 period, the APDR also gained the support of the

Galician government The Xunta de Galicia (; "Regional Government of Galicia") is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, composed of the President of the Regional Government of Galicia, Presiden ...

on the grounds of health and environmental concerts to speed up the process.Article from ''Xornal.com''
on how the Galician government urges TAFISA to close its Pontevedra factory and relocate (9 February 2002) The local government of Pontevedra, in association with the Galician government and APDR, negotiated the eventual closure of the ENCE-ELNOSA complex. However, the agreed date of year 2018 was considered as "unacceptable" by the APDR, which is now trying to force an earlier closure of the company.

Acknowledgements

In 2002 the APDR received the ''Cidade de Pontevedra'' prize, awarded by the Pontevedra City Council. In 2005 it received the ''Vidal Bolaño'' prize, awarded by the cultural organisatio
''Redes Escarlata''

Notes

External links

*
Asociación Pola Defensa da Ría
- official website (in Galician) *
Federación Ecoloxista Galega
- official website (in Galician) *
Nunca Mais
- official website (in Galician) *
ENCE
- corporate site of the ENCE group (in Spanish and English) *
Quimigal
- corporate site of the parent company of ELNOSA (in Portuguese and English) *
Documentary on the ENCE-ELNOSA polemic
- broadcast by Argentinian television. Running time 5:59 (in Spanish) *
Documentary on the history of the ENCE-ELNOSA and the health concerns
- broadcast b
Pluralia TV
Running time 5:04 (in Galician and Spanish) *
Concello de Pontevedra
- official site of the local government of Pontevedra (in Galician, Spanish, and with summarised versions in English and French)

References

* Centro de Estudios y Ordenación del Territorio y Medio Ambiente d.(1982): ''Estudio de la contaminación de la Ría de Pontevedra: Programa Escorp'' (three volumes). Deputación Provincial, Pontevedra * Cobelo-Garcia, A. and Prego R. (2003): "Land inputs, behaviour and contamination levels of copper in a ria estuary (NW Spain)", in ''Marine environmental research'', vol. 56, no. 3, p. 403-422. Elsevier, Oxford, ISSN 0141-1136 * Combarro Combarro, M. P. (1981): ''Indicadores bacteriológicos de contaminación fecal en la ría de Pontevedra''. Memoria de Licenciatura, Faculdade de Bioloxía-Departamento de Microbioloxía e Parasitoloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela * López Rodríguez, M. (1994): ''Influencia de vertidos industriales en la variabilidad cualitativa y cuantitativa de la flora y vegetación bentónica de la ría de Pontevedra''. Servicio de Publicacións e Intercambio Científico, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela * Masa Vázquez, A. (2001): "A Xustiza acusa a Celulosas de 'delito ecolóxico' ", in ''Inzar razóns'', no.24, p. 16-19 * Masa Vázquez, A. (2006): "Defendemos o fin da actividade de Ence na Ría de Pontevedra", in ''Cerna. Revista galega de ecoloxía e medio ambiente'', no. 48, p. 30-33 * Masa Vázquez, A. (2008): "Un paso máis cara á consolidación do complexo na Ría de Pontevedra: autorizacións ambientais integradas a ENCE-ELNOSA", in ''Inzar razóns'', no. 37, p. 4-10 * Patiño Romarís, C. (1997): "Competencia entre agricultura y turismo en la margen norte de la Ría de Pontevedra", in ''Dinámica litoral-interior: actas XV Congreso de Geógrafos Españoles'', p. 493-502. Depto. de Xeografía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela * Prego Reboredo, R. et al. (2003): "Chemical speciation of dissolved lead in polluted environments; a case of study: the Pontevedra Ria (NW Spain)", in ''Ciencias Marinas'', vol. 29, no. 4, p. 377-388 * Ramírez Fernández, C. (1999): "Un Purgatorio en Pontevedra", in ''Tempos novos'', no. 25, p. 19-27 * Rodríguez Rey, L. (1984): ''Dinámica de poblaciones de "Spiochaetopterus costarum" (Claparede, 1868) en la ría de Pontevedra, su importancia como indicador de contaminación''. Memoria de Licenciatura, Faculdade de Bioloxía-Departamento de Zooloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela {{DEFAULTSORT:Asociacion pola defensa da ria Environmental organisations based in Spain