The Regional Secretary for the Environment and the Sea, Álamo Meneses, signed a contract for drafting the Land Management Plan of the Lagoa do Fogo, Congro, São Brás and Serra Devassada Crater Lakes on São Miguel Island which, in addition to the plans already approved or ongoing, completes the set of land management tools for the crater lakes in the Azores. With an estimated investment of eighty thousand Euros, this project will benefit from Community funding under the Proconvergência programme.
The purpose underlying the drafting of this plan reflects the awareness for integrated land and water management plans in order to create tools that promote environmental protection and enhancement of natural resources, including the preservation of the water quality of crater lakes. The public interest in the development of the aforementioned plan not only aims to ensure water quality, but also to preserve and protect the ecosystems and landscape.
The project will be coordinated by the Regional Directorate for Spatial Planning and Water Resources and implemented by the consortium CEDRU – Centro de Estudos de Desenvolvimento Regional e Urbano, Lda. / University of the Azores. The plan is expected to be completed by 2012. The drafting of the plan proposal will also be monitored by a commission composed by representatives of different entities of the regional and local public administration as well of NGOs and other entities.