Privacy Policy

It is Open Rivers Programme’s policy to respect your privacy and comply with any applicable law and regulation regarding any personal information we may collect about you, including across our website, https://www.openrivers.eu, and other sites we own and operate.

This policy is effective as of 20 September 2021 and was last updated on 20 September 2021.

Information We Collect

Information we collect includes both information you knowingly and actively provide us when using or participating in any of our services and promotions, and any information automatically sent by your devices in the course of accessing our products and services.

Log Data

When you visit our website, our servers may automatically log the standard data provided by your web browser. It may include your device’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version, the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on each page, other details about your visit, and technical details that occur in conjunction with any errors you may encounter.

Please be aware that while this information may not be personally identifying by itself, it may be possible to combine it with other data to personally identify individual persons.

Collection and Use of Information

We may collect personal information from you when you do any of the following on our website:

  • Contact us via email, social media, or on any similar technologies
  • When you mention us on social media

We may collect, hold, use, and disclose information for the following purposes, and personal information will not be further processed in a manner that is incompatible with these purposes:

Please be aware that we may combine information we collect about you with general information or research data we receive from other trusted sources.

Security of Your Personal Information

When we collect and process personal information, and while we retain this information, we will protect it within commercially acceptable means to prevent loss and theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification.

Although we will do our best to protect the personal information you provide to us, we advise that no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and no one can guarantee absolute data security. We will comply with laws applicable to us in respect of any data breach.

You are responsible for selecting any password and its overall security strength, ensuring the security of your own information within the bounds of our services.

How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

We keep your personal information only for as long as we need to. This time period may depend on what we are using your information for, in accordance with this privacy policy. If your personal information is no longer required, we will delete it or make it anonymous by removing all details that identify you.

However, if necessary, we may retain your personal information for our compliance with a legal, accounting, or reporting obligation or for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific, or historical research purposes or statistical purposes.

Children’s Privacy

We do not aim any of our products or services directly at children under the age of 13, and we do not collect personal information about children under 13.

If we receive personal information about you from a third party, we will protect it as set out in this privacy policy. If you are a third party providing personal information about somebody else, you represent and warrant that you have such person’s consent to provide the personal information to us.

If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time. We will provide you with the ability to unsubscribe from our email-database or opt out of communications. Please be aware we may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity.

If you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading, please contact us using the details provided in this privacy policy. We will take reasonable steps to correct any information found to be inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or out of date.

If you believe that we have breached a relevant data protection law and wish to make a complaint, please contact us using the details below and provide us with full details of the alleged breach. We will promptly investigate your complaint and respond to you, in writing, setting out the outcome of our investigation and the steps we will take to deal with your complaint. You also have the right to contact a regulatory body or data protection authority in relation to your complaint.

Use of Cookies

We use “cookies” to collect information about you and your activity across our site. A cookie is a small piece of data that our website stores on your computer, and accesses each time you visit, so we can understand how you use our site. This helps us serve you content based on preferences you have specified.

Limits of Our Policy

Our website may link to external sites that are not operated by us. Please be aware that we have no control over the content and policies of those sites, and cannot accept responsibility or liability for their respective privacy practices.

Changes to This Policy

At our discretion, we may change our privacy policy to reflect updates to our organisation processes, current acceptable practices, or legislative or regulatory changes. If we decide to change this privacy policy, we will post the changes here at the same link by which you are accessing this privacy policy.

If required by law, we will get your permission or give you the opportunity to opt in to or opt out of, as applicable, any new uses of your personal information.

Contact Us

For any questions or concerns regarding your privacy, you may contact us using the following details:

info@openrivers.eu

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Galaxes Weir, Portugal

The removal of the Galaxes Weir will increase fish abundance and biodiversity in the surrounding area and restore fluvial connectivity. This will be the first civil removal of an obsolete river barrier in Portugal, and will improve habitat conditions of endangered fish species.

Introduction

The Algarve is the most Southern and driest region of Portugal. The Odeleite stream is partially within Caldeirão SCI and not far from a national Protected Area (Guadiana Valley) and a Ramsar site (Castro Marim salt marshes). The landscape surrounding the Galaxes Weir is mostly characterized by Mediterranean scrubland and very low population density. The river hosts one of the few populations of the Spanish minnowcarp (Anaecypris hispanica) – the most endangered non-migratory fish species in Portuguese freshwaters, endemic to the Guadiana river basin – and other threatened fish species (Squalius alburnoides, Leuciscus pyrenaicus, Salaria fluviatilis, etc.), possibly including the migratory eel (Anguilla anguilla), as well as several species of riparian birds, and mammals such as the fish-eating otter (Lutra lutra) and the endemic and endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus).

Project context and opportunity

The national authority for Nature and Forests Conservation (ICNF), identified the Galaxes Weir as one of the obsolete barriers to be removed to improve fish and overall biodiversity in the area and restore fluvial connectivity (Bochechas 2014).

This will be the first civil removal of an obsolete river barrier in Portugal, and will improve habitat conditions of endangered fish species. This project is expected to result in several other removals in the catchment, as well as in other catchments, boosting the dam removal movement in Portugal. Recently, another barrier in another stream nearby (Vascão stream), which also hosts the Spanish minnowcarp, was removed by the ICNF.

At a glance

Location Galaxes
Country Portugal
River Odeleite
Km to be opened 7.7
Key habitats River, scrublands
Focal species Anaecypris hispanica, Anguilla anguilla, Lutra lutra, Lynx pardinus
Removal date Early autumn
Project status Ongoing

Project aims

The project will restore the fluvial connectivity of 7.7 km of river, thus constituting a good step towards the conservation of the endangered Spanish minnowcarp and the critically-endangered eel. Also, by restoring the fluvial continuity, and in turn allowing ecological conditions for healthier fish populations, the removal will benefit local fishermen and the economy related to the consumption of freshwater fish, which are appreciated in local gastronomy.

The removal is expected to improve recreational activities in the area including fishing, hiking, and other traditional activities. The project will help develop tourism associated with the nearby Natural Park of Guadiana Valley as well as coastal tourist resorts in the Algarve.

Last but not least, as it will be the first civil barrier removal in Portugal, this project will change the status quo view of dam removals among decision makers in the country.

Project partners

ANP WWF

Alcoutim

Latest news updates

UK Dam Removal Conference – May 18-19

2022 Dam Removal Award Nominees

Galaxes Weir in Portugal – demolition begins