NEMUS present in the organization of the 6th International Congress on Planning and Management of Coastal Areas in Portuguese-speaking Countries

Pedro Bettencourt, NEMUS’ Director General, chaired the Organizing Committee of the 6th International Congress on Planning and Management of Coastal Areas in Portuguese-speaking countries, which took place between 6 and April 8, 2011 on the Island of Boa Vista (Cape Verde).

This year’s conference, entitled “Coastal Zones at Risk,” was attended by about 180 participants and hosted the presentation of a vast set of communications of elevated technical and scientific quality in a variety of areas of activity, notably planning, land management, environmental impact assessment, vulnerability and risk, biodiversity and climate change and coastal engineering and protection.

The opening of the congress was attended by the Secretary of State of Cape Verde for Marine Resources and the Councillor for Education of the City of Boa Vista, which addressed the major challenges of the coastal zone of the host country. From Portugal stood out the (active) participation, for the first time in this congress, of two Mayors (Peniche and Torres Vedras).

The congress was preceded (4 and 5 April) by the 1st Intensive Course on Coastal Management – Risk Analysis, whose coordination counted with Pedro Bettencourt and Sonia Alcobia, fromNEMUS. The course was supported by a technical, scientific and professional body of recognized merit in the areas addressed (risk in sandy and rocky coastlines, environmental impact, pollution and climate change) and ended with a technical visit of Boa Vista Island.

The balance of these events was very positive and they showed that, although Portuguese-speaking countries have diverse landscape, ecological, socio-economic and cultural realities, the main problems in the coastal zone are largely very similar, so it’s essential to bet on an integrated management policy.