The Environment
Sonae Turismo and the environment
For Sonae Turismo environment is a priority. In 2003, Sonae Turismo had established the organization’s environmental policy and, since then, has acted in accordance with the premises of this policy. Troiaresort is an example of Sonae Turismo commitment with the environment.
The Troiaresort
The environmental quality of the Troiaresort project has been an important goal since the very beginning. Sonae Turismo assumed from the very first stages that the environment was a central issue. Not only to fulfil the legal requirements but mostly to accomplish environmental excellence as a competitive advantage.
At Troiaresort, the developer, the architects and consultants in the environmental area all worked together interactively with the fundamental goal of integrating the environmental component into the different projects making up the Troiaresort. The area’s biodiversity and heritage are considered to be factors that differentiate the project, and which are capable of creating value and that can be capitalised into new tourism products and services.
Environmental impact assessment procedures were carried out, evaluating the land use at a detailed level and recommending, among others the implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS). The EMS was implemented, covering the planning, construction and operation of the resort. Since 2005 the EMS is certified according to the international standard ISO 14001 and this year was registered in the EMAS - the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, a voluntary initiative designed to improve companies’ environmental performance. This award aims to recognise and reward those organisations that go beyond minimum legal compliance and continuously improve their environmental performance. In addition, it is a requirement of the scheme that participating organisations regularly produce a public environmental statement that reports on their environmental performance, checked by an environmental verifier. Troiaresort is the only resort in Portugal that achieved this recognition.
The environmental quality of the coastal area rewarding Troiaresort has also been recognized by the independent non-profit organization Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) which awarded the Blue Flag to the Troiaresort beaches and Marina. This award considers strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services. It also includes environmental education and information for the public, decision makers and tourism operators.
Since the beginning of Troiaresort, environmental studies have been conducted by IMAR - Institute of Marine Research, an R&D institution whose founder members include the majority of Universities in Portugal that carry out research in Marine Sciences. Since 1998, IMAR has been working with Troiaresort, coordinating the Marina and new Ferry Harbour Environmental Impact Assessment. In 2001, it began to carry out the environmental monitoring of Tróia. The main conclusions arrived at by the IMAR team are the natural accretion of the western side of the Tróia peninsula, and the fact that the project’s development appears to be having no significant negative impact on the environment. A number of positive environmental aspects have been detected, in particular the reduction of the pressure of humans on the salt marsh bird life due to control of visitor access. Also noteworthy has been the construction of off ground boardwalks, which have encouraged sand dune recovery and the re-colonisation by endemic plants of these habitats.
The forested area is managed with the National Forestry Department advising, since 2000, with the goal of preserving biodiversity of, namely in terms of diseases and exotic species control. A significant part of this area is included in Natura 2000 Network. This network, which is the centrepiece of the European Union nature & biodiversity policy, aims to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats.