Nature group praises ICNF response to Volta cycling race

The Liga para a Proteção da Natureza (LPN) praised the ICNF's presence and response during the Volta a Portugal cycling race's 13 August stage through the Peneda-Gerês National Park, particularly the sensitive Mata da Albergaria area. While welcoming the on-the-ground enforcement of biodiversity protection measures, LPN maintained the race should not have been authorised there in the first place, calling the approval process irregular. It warned the precedent set by allowing the crossing could matter more than the actual environmental impact, and renewed calls for stronger, better-resourced nature conservation authorities in Portugal.