MEP asks Brussels to halt logging in Ovar pine forest

Bloco de Esquerda MEP Catarina Martins has formally alerted the European Commission over large-scale tree felling in the Ovar Dunes Forest Perimeter, a protected area in Aveiro district, calling it an ecological crime. She says 363 hectares of mature pine are being cut without environmental impact assessments, with logging projects split into plots under 10 hectares to dodge legal requirements. She also notes the same authority, ICNF, bans similar cutting in comparable protected areas like Mata de Mira. Martins is asking Brussels whether it will open an infringement procedure against Portugal.