Azores Situation Report Wednesday 16^th August 2023

 

From our correspondent in Azores

Azores to control excess of protected birds that are plague for agriculture.

The Government of the Azores hopes to have a plan to combat pests operational by the end of the month, warning that there is an “excess” population of protected birds that are causing damage to farmers.

“We are not against protected birds. What we want is for there to be a population in balance with what the experience of the agricultural economy is like. Currently, there is an excess of these protected birds. I’m talking about the blackbird, wood pigeon and collared turtledove”, said the secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development.

António Ventura warned that those animals are “economically affecting” many local productions in the areas of horticulture, winemaking and maize.

“It is our idea that at the end of August we can have an opening and an authorization so that the excess population can be corrected”, he stressed.

He stressed that the increase in the population of the woodpecker, collared turtledove and blackbird is “dispelling other species of birds that are disappearing”.

Swiss tourist missing on trail in Ribeira Quente

After exhausting all possible steps, after searches carried out by air, sea and land, the case was forwarded to the Public Ministry, which will assess the need to involve the Judiciary Police.

A 27-year-old man of Swiss nationality who was visiting the island of São Miguel has been missing since the 15th of July.

According to the Public Security Police (PSP), in the last communication with the family, the man indicated that he was on a pedestrian trail in the Ribeira Quente area, leading to “diligence being undertaken to try to locate” the missing tourist.

The spokesperson for the Regional Command of the Azores said, that considering that there are several trails there, “the entire area has been the target of searches during the last few days, which, unfortunately, were unsuccessful”.

For this reason, “when all possible steps have been exhausted”, explains Eurico Machado, the case was forwarded to the Public Ministry, which will decide “what the course of the process and subsequent steps to be taken”, and the case may pass to the Police. Judiciary.

The deputy commissioner also adds that, in addition to the PSP, the searches for this tourist were supported by the Povoação Volunteer Firefighters, who focused on the various existing trails and in the neighbouring parishes of Ribeira Quente, as well as the Maritime Police, who carried out searches in the coastline, “a possibility that cannot be ruled out”.
In the case of the PSP, he adds, the use of dogs and a drone was used, which, as a rule, “is a very useful and effective tool in occurrences of this nature”.

Among the main difficulties in the searches, explains Eurico Machado, is the fact that it is not possible to “precisely place” where the man disappeared, knowing only that it was “on a trail in Ribeira Quente”. Another difficulty relates to the fact that the missing young man’s mobile phone is turned off, making it impossible to contact him.

Regarding the characterization of the area, the spokesman for the Regional Command of the Azores indicates that, if the missing man had remained on the trail, he would not represent a danger. However, “people have a tendency to deviate from the route and then, it can become dangerous”.

The PSP also warns the population that “the competent authorities should work to find the missing man”, because “only the authorities with competence in this matter can and should take steps, under penalty of danger to other citizens”.