Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

O Paul de Arzila e a protecção do património natural

2000; Coimbra University Press; Volume: 3; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

0874-1093

Maria Alexandra Aragão,

International Maritime Law Issues

This article judges the strictness of the national transposition of directives 79/409 April 2nd, 1979 – bird directive — and 92/43 May 21st, 1992 – habitat directive. The author studies, in particular, the transposition of the norm that can be found in article 4 n.o 4 (last phrase) concerning the protection of habitats that are outside of the special protection zones that were created. In the Portuguese version of the last phrase of article 4, n.° 4, of the bird directive concerning the protection of habitats outside of the special protection zones an ambiguous expression was utilized: «para alem» which can mean «beyond», as «overthere», «furthermore» or «besides». This norm does not have the clarity that the corresponding expressions do in the other languages: «outside», «en dehors», «fuera», «ausserhalb» or «al di fuori». Due to this the Portuguese State has not taken into consideration, neither in theory nor in practice, the duty to protect which can be found in article 4, n.o 4, in fine of the bird directive and confirmed by the habitats directive. Decree-Law n.o 140/99 24th of April (which transposed into the national legal order the two referred directives) has the following objectives “to contribute to assuring bio-diversity, through the conservation and reestablishment of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora in a favorable state of conservation”, but omits any reference to any duty of protection regarding the zones that are exterior to the ones which have special protection. The institutions that have the duty to protect nature in Portugal have also not taken this factor into consideration, namely in the case of the Arzila Swamp. The Arzila Swamp is a small wetland situated in Portuguese territory with an amazing biological diversity. This biological diversity is formally protected by national legislation since 1988. However, outside the Arzila Swamp there is a road under construction that runs along the border of this special protection zone. In this brief article, we will try to clarify the meaning and what are the limits of the obligation assumed by the Portuguese State outside this special protection zone notwithstanding the poor transposition.