Quercus says Covilhã council plans to fell 1,400 cork oaks

Environmental group Quercus has denounced plans by Covilhã council to cut down 1,400 cork oaks, a protected species, to expand the Tortosendo industrial park under the revised Municipal Master Plan, now in public consultation until Friday. Quercus says dozens of the trees are centuries old and that the expansion would also require expropriating 10 homes, even though half the existing industrial park's plots are empty. It accuses the council of omitting the cork oaks from the plan's environmental report. Mayor Hélio Fazendeiro says the process has been transparent and the land had been earmarked for industrial expansion for over 30 years.