“A oliveira é considerada a árvore da paz, mas estão a torná-la numa arma de guerra”
PÚBLICO (8/12/2024) A época da apanha da azeitona é a mais importante para comunidades rurais palestinianas. Mas com o intensificar de ataques do Exército e colonos israelitas, é também a mais perigosa. Apesar dos riscos, os palestinianos continuam a cuidar das suas oliveiras, e a colher os frutos de uma tradição com milhares de anos. Walaja, Palestina […]
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Los aceituneros palestinos y los árboles milenarios que los arraigan a la tierra
EL SALTO (8/12/2024) A mediados de noviembre, cuando los cielos se llenan de nubes y las primeras lluvias del otoño finalmente llegan a Palestina tras largos meses de sequía, Salah Abu Ali anuncia el inicio de la cosecha de uno de los olivos más antiguos del mundo en Walaja, un pueblo confinado entre Jerusalén y […]
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Where shepherds coexist with wolves
BBC (9/8/2024) “My two favourite animals are sheep and wolves,” says Miguel Afonso as he looks over his flock of 200 sheep bleating and grazing on the gently rolling hills surrounding the village of Rio de Onor in northeastern Portugal. Holding his sturdy crook, the 34-year-old shepherd doesn’t see his love for wolves as inconsistent […]
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‘Sometimes I wonder if I’ll come back’: Palestinian birdwatchers defy danger to scan the skies
THE GUARDIAN (6/6/2024) Sitting in the shade of an olive tree in the valley of Ein Qiniya, northwest of Ramallah, wildlife photographer Mohamad Shuaibi starts to enumerate the birds he can spot that spring morning. Swifts and swallows flit and swoop around, a short-toed eagle hovers in the distance, a jay sits perched on an […]
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“Nenhum lugar seguro” nas aldeias palestinianas atacadas por colonos israelitas
VISÃO (23/5/2024) Os campos de oliveiras e as cearas de trigo envolvem a aldeia de al-Mughayyir, na base de um vale no centro da Cisjordânia. À sombra das oliveiras estão carros esventrados, peças de metal corroídas pelas chamas e vidros partidos. A fuligem cobre os caminhos, as pedras, as paredes das casas. O cheiro a […]
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In Portugal’s Rural North, Communities Are Resisting Lithium Mining
NEW LINES MAGAZINE (24/4/2024) Under the banner of a “green transition,” the EU is rushing to revive mining to secure critical raw materials. Plans to build large, open-pit mines in northeastern Portugal have been met with strong opposition from local communities, who are contesting the state’s authority to grant mining licenses without their consent. As […]
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The rewilding project bringing back prehistoric bovines
BBC (13/3/2024) On a cold, misty morning, a herd of dun-coloured Sorraia horses, an endangered local breed, graze on grass and small shrubs, their short and stocky bodies enveloped in the mist by the Côa river in the mountains of northeastern Portugal. As the sun rises and the mist starts to dissipate, it unveils the […]
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In these ancient oak forests, it is possible to produce while preserving the environment
WASHINGTON POST (3/2/2024) The rhythmic noise of axes whacking trees echoes in the depths of the cork oak forest. But in Coruche, a rural area south of the Tagus River known as Portugal’s “cork capital,” the bang of trees falling to the ground doesn’t follow the sound of the ax strokes. Instead, experienced workers carefully […]
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Europe’s thirst for lithium threatens livelihoods, biodiversity in Portugal
AL JAZEERA (30/1/2024) Paulo Pires walked up the hill with his flock of sheep and dogs on a warm day in August, as a stream of water gushed down an ancient irrigation channel that has been maintained by local communities over many generations. “There is a lot of wealth here,” said Pires, now resting in […]
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Lithium mining threatens agricultural heritage in Portugal’s Barroso
MONGABAY (11/12/2023) In the hills of Barroso high in northeastern Portugal, the water gushes down small channels built many centuries ago, winding through a mosaic of pastures, oak and pine forests, and arable and fallow land. Sitting on her porch overlooking a carefully kept garden full of flowers and vegetables, Aida Fernandes remembers the day […]
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