Port expansion in Avilés estuary Environment problems

The estuary is contaminated by mud and heavy metals However, it was decontaminated years ago but it still has a lot of pollution problems (especially inside the mud)

This is the landscape from Zeluán, a cosy village near Avilés It is a wonderful place to go for a walk or for bird-watching. The landscape isn’t very pleasant because there are lots of cranes in the background.

The future Niemeyer will be the next attraction of Avilés The futuristic and fantastic buildings will be built in the middle of the estuary so it might be problematic for the wildlife.

The environment problems are connected to the extraction of the mud This process is called dredging and it moves the pollution from the past.

On the other hand, they want to dredge near Pachico and it will destroy some protected places In this situation we can find the Lloreo inlet and the Zeluán pond.

There are lots of birds in the estuary, mainly seagulls There are at least four different species of seagulls but we can watch other birds in the estuary like herons, common terns or plovers.

We should preserve wildlife because they need us. In the future this footprint can be made by an otter (nowadays, they are extinct in our estuary)