Paper short abstract:

The establishment of the nature park Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina in Portugal provoked permanent conflicts with local populations. In this paper we will argue that the scientific construction of “nature” served as vehicle for a major political and social transformation of this former poorhouse of Europe.

Paper long abstract:

The Portuguese Southwest is praised as the best preserved coastline in Europe. Founded in 1995, the nature park Southwest Alentejo and Vicentinian coast has a troubled history. From its beginning as a "protected landscape" in the late eighties, the discovery of this coast as a site for nature conservation and sustainable development provoked permanent conflicts with the local populations. In this paper we will argue, that the construction of "nature" served as vehicle for a major political and social transformation of this former poorhouse of Europe.

In the early nineties, we conducted fieldwork in the district of Odemira, and ever since we closely observed the process of "ecologization" of this coastal area. We understand ecologization as both a scientific and political process, which goes beyond the mere conservation of a natural landscape. In the aftermath of the 1974 revolution, this area was famous for land occupations by formerly landless workers. Simultaneously with Portugal's entrance into the European Union, the cooperatives went into decline and environmental NGOs, European conservation strategies such as Natura 2000 and "greened" national elites gained interest in this area. "Nature" became a contested entity, which served in various ways to support (trans)national environmental, but also economic and political interests. We will discuss this greening of this coast in the southwest of Portugal in terms of the Europeanization and globalization of a formerly forgotten landscape.