GEOTA secures €420,000 to restore Portuguese rivers

Environmental group GEOTA has obtained €420,000 in international funding from the Donors Initiative for Mediterranean Freshwater Ecosystems to expand its Free Rivers Programme over the next three years. The money will support ecological restoration, public awareness and participation, focusing on restoring river connectivity and removing obsolete barriers that harm the environment. Portugal has thousands of dams and weirs, many with no remaining economic or social function, that disrupt water flow, cause erosion and sediment build-up, and damage biodiversity. GEOTA will select municipalities to join integrated river rehabilitation actions and is inviting local authorities to apply through its website.