Operation set up for the rally includes the participation of the municipalities of Amarante, Baião and Marco de Canaveses and also two environmental partners: Resinorte and Re-Source.
Determined to comply, and even go further, with the Environmental Sustainability Code during the 2023 edition of the Rally Terras D’Aboboreira, the Clube Automóvel de Amarante (CAA) outlined a vast and complete plan of action, in order to guarantee the minimum ecological impact of the event. And a specific email was even created to deal with matters related to the protection of nature: Ambiente@terrasdaaboboreira.pt
“The project that will be put into practice does not focus only on waste, it goes much further …”, begins by underlining Pedro Portela, the member of the CAA responsible for the environmental area in the third race of the Portuguese Rally Championship, explaining that the action will focus on eight different areas: noise, waste, water and energy, fuels and soil protection, hygiene and cleaning, awareness and carbon offsetting.
With regard to waste, Pedro Portela was keen to underline:
“We have ensured that ecopoints are placed in all areas that we consider sensitive, such as the public areas scattered throughout the mountains, the Assistance Park, the Rally Operational Centre, Administrative Checks, Technical Checks, departure and arrival controls. of PECs”.
It is planned that waste from competition cars, such as tyres, contaminated absorbents, bodywork parts, glass, oils (brakes, engine, transmissions, etc.) and antifreeze, brake pads and oil filters are collected and sent to entities managers of this type of material, and in addition to the collaboration of the three municipalities (Amarante, Baião and Marco de Canaveses) in this plan, there are also two environmental partners: Resinorte and Re-Source.
In the water and energy segment, Pedro Portela revealed a particularity:
“On the connection to the Service Park at the end of the race, the washing of the competition vehicles will be done, by members of the organization of the environment team, at a service station reserved for this purpose, using a high pressure and low consumption system, in compliance with all environmental standards”.
With the aim of reducing the circulation of vehicles by spectators, the municipalities of Amarante, Baião and Marco de Canaveses will also have a relevant intervention:
“In each municipality where the rally passes, there will be a public zone served by free public transport. It is intended to reduce the use of individual transport and this initiative is an asset in this regard. We hope that there will be a strong adherence of people to this formula of accessing the stages”, added Pedro Portela.
In the area of fuel and soil protection, and regardless of the material used by the teams, an environmental mat will be prepared in the three refueling areas to cover all of these areas. Likewise, both at the beginning and at the end of the PECs, the fire teams will also be equipped with specific kits to respond to any possible spillage.
“Awareness raising will be another of the strengths of our plan, starting with the distribution of an Environmental Sustainability guide and the placement of information panels next to ecopoints, in addition to the intervention of environmental volunteers to raise awareness of this issue. The sound car that will play before the start of each stage will also emit messages and at the Resinorte Assistance Park there will be a ‘task force’ that will take advantage of the hours of greater influx of public to implement various actions”.
Lastly, and with regard to carbon offsetting, since the beginning of February more than three hundred trees have been planted in the three municipalities as a whole and in areas passing through the Terras D’Aboboreira Rally, such as Serra do Marão, in the area of Aboadela (Amarante), the Serra da Aboboreira (Baião) and the area of Montedeiras (Marco do Canaveses).
