Neocolonialism refers to the indirect control that powerful countries exert over less developed nations, primarily through economic, political or cultural pressures (rather than direct military or political domination). The effects of neocolonialism are visible in environmental and conservation efforts, as foreign entities often initiate and control conservation projects in developing countries. These projects typically prioritise global environmental goals over local needs, sometimes displacing indigenous communities and imposing western conservation models that may not be sustainable or beneficial for local ecosystems.

After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, Cape Verde, an archipelago of 10 islands in the central Atlantic Ocean, gained independence on July 5, 1975. Sal, one of the islands in the archipelago, historically thrived on salt production, but in the late 20th century an Italian investor purchased the salt mines and began building hotels and resorts, effectively controlling the island’s economy. This transition from salt production to tourism altered Sal’s economic landscape, highlighting the impact of foreign investment on local communities.

“Sal has always been marketed as a sun-and-beach tourist destination, as if there was nothing else, portraying it as a desert island with nothing more to offer. Our goal was to challenge and dispel this notion, to show that the island holds much more ecological significance than previously acknowledged.”

In 2011, Albert, a biologist born in Catalonia, Spain, arrived in Cape Verde along with Berta, a marine biologist, to volunteer with a local conservation organisation.

“We continued to gain responsibilities until 2014. There were already other people who had also started working on the different issues endangered sea turtles face in the country: habitat loss, poaching, light pollution, plastic pollution, among others. With some locals, we decided to found a NGO, Projeto Biodiversidade. It was 6 of us when we started.

“The conservation NGOs that started here in Cabo Verde were mostly outsiders who came to dictate what needed to be done, and there was a missing element of making it more community-oriented. So our objective was to address this gap and start working on it. We aimed to collaborate as much as possible with the local population, providing employment opportunities and training. We wanted to empower locals to take on leadership roles with the clear goal that someday the project would be 100% nationally managed.”

As of today, there are 27 people working in the permanent team, and of that group only four are foreigners. 

The project started almost 10 years ago as an organisation to protect sea turtles, but it has always been much more than that.

“I believe it was more of a result of necessity, the outcome of an urgent need the island had. It was a group of individuals who met through sea turtle conservation and realised there was an urgent need to protect the island’s natural riches, to preserve and make people aware of them.”

With the expansion of preservation initiatives across the Cape Verde archipelago, in 2009 a national marine turtle conservation network was created, TAOLA. With the need to preserve whole habitats, conservation efforts expanded to include other fauna and flora. In 2022, along with five local NGOs, Projeto Biodiversidade helped to create TAOLA+ Rede Nacional de Conservação Ambiental, a network of organisations dedicated to environmental conservation, uniting environmental NGOs into a single, bigger voice.

“Only a few weeks ago, we held the first assembly. Now we are 14. It is becoming a driving force for conservation throughout the country, and that is amazing. Now, if you go to any island, you will find a fairly large environmental conservation NGO.

“There are also groups that are not that well organised due to paperwork, who cannot yet be part of the network due to bureaucratic reasons, but we also represent them. The idea is not to leave anyone out, to include everyone, and always add more.”

Through Projeto Biodiversidade, and now with TAOLA+, the goals continue to expand and evolve.

“Having an organisation connecting the NGOs gives much more strength to everything we do. We now work with plants, sharks, seabirds, ecosystems, dune restoration… We all do so many things. We needed to create something that encompassed everyone, all the NGOs. In the end, it’s the story of a bunch of people who came together in this place and said, ‘hey, let’s try to conserve and take care of this.’ That’s really incredible. Ultimately, no matter what you do, no matter where it is, it always comes down to the power of grassroots organisations for everything.

“I remember when I arrived here in 2011, the quad bike tours for tourists used to pass right through the middle of the beach, through a natural reserve in Costa da Fragata. Nowadays, we’re already discussing how far away from the dunes they can go. The whole picture improves when you value what you have.”

Things seem to be getting better, with a growing number of people involved and the government willing to protect the precious ecosystem of Cape Verde. Yet, like elsewhere, the ocean is often overlooked when it comes to active conservation, even in a country where 99.45% of the territory is water.

“The fishing agreement that Cabo Verde has with the European Union is the same as the one the EU has with the Canary Islands, the closest archipelago to Cabo Verde, yet the EU pays the Canary Islands millions, but here in Cabo Verde they give a pittance and come and empty the sea. There’s a lack of management of the fishing industry, due to lack of financial support and a lack of State strategy. There’s a lack of Marine Protected Areas and a lack of a clear vision that can guarantee the survival of the ecosystem.”

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated regions in oceans, seas and large lakes where human activities are managed and regulated to protect marine ecosystems and biodiversity. They are essential tools for conserving marine habitats and creating more MPAs is the key to the survival of ocean ecosystems.

“Here, there are Marine Protected Areas, and when we go there, the seabed is clean, they’ve wiped everything out, there’s nothing, nothing! Only in the places they can’t reach is where there’s quite a significant wealth, like the shallow coral reefs. But if we go a bit further away from the coast, we can’t find any life. Why? Because the existing MPAs are not managed. There’s a lack of a state strategy and the conviction to carry it out to the end.”

MPAs can significantly vary in their level of protection and the types of activities allowed within their boundaries, but Albert has a clear vision for Cape Verde’s waters to once again be a thriving, biodiverse ecosystem. 

“We have a large project with the objective to create new Marine Protected Areas and extend existing ones. The government didn’t want to know anything about it at first… but in the last year, they have become more enthusiastic.

“We are practically managing protected areas. We continue to monitor, fight against hunting, we place signs, restore dunes and carry out a kind of management of these areas. The difference is that we don’t do it with the government. There’s no document that says, you are the managers of the protected area. It doesn’t exist. But I believe that now, over time, we will move in that direction, NGOs will start to gain more relevance. We don’t talk so much about protecting turtles anymore, we don’t talk so much about the patrols themselves, we talk about beach management. We’re not just patrolling the beach anymore, now we’re managing it.”

The key to their success goes beyond the organisation, it’s something bigger.

“We need to change the paradigm a bit. We need to understand that the locals have been here all their lives, and now we or other people from outside are coming, and this is important. I believe our role here is about accompanying the development in the country to make it as sustainable as possible, rather than opposing or hindering it.

“We’re moving away from the conventional conservation idea of years ago, where you protect a species to the end and that’s it. We’re focused on the ecosystem level, the whole. It’s been an ant’s work, a constant effort and of always being present, not creating something with a start and end date, but something more permanent.” 

This is Projeto Biodiversidade’s biggest achievement thus far.

“Things change through persistence, laws don’t get created overnight. Laws have to be in place for a while, convince the government, then they make the law, then they implement the law. You have to be there and maintain it. And that’s what I believe our biggest achievement is, that people don’t see us as just an environmental issue, they see us as intellectual authority.”

Albert is proud of what they have achieved — as he should be — but more importantly, he conveys an idea that all activists should share.

“I arrived here as a volunteer, and there was an opportunity to help protect this ecosystem, we took it and now, well, we have something that is very big, that’s much bigger than ourselves. I believe what sets us apart is the conviction that we don’t do things for our own benefit, we do things for the common good, for something greater.”

What does the future of Cape Verde hold? Albert’s focus remains the same, to protect the archipelago often referred to as the Jewel of the Atlantic.

“I would love to see the organisation play a significant role in the management of protected areas, of no-fishing zones. I would like to see more reserves in a tangible way, because right now it’s all theoretical, isn’t it? I want to see this in action.”

Helena Constela is a photographer, videographer, producer and activist. She works in the media team on Sea Shepherd’s ships, while also managing social media for both eco-nnect and Seaspiracy.

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For the past two decades, the legend of David, the young shepherd who defeated the giant Goliath with a stone and a sling, has echoed in Galicia, Spain. The Ensenada de San Simón is a space included in the Natura 2000 Network, a web of protected areas covering Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats, and therefore theoretically protected under the European Union’s Nature Conservancy Act. But these supposed protections are often too lax, as each EU country decides how best to implement these regulations based on the understanding that each site in this network is unique, so it’s on the landowners and site managers to work together to find local solutions for each area.

The Ensenada de San Simón has, on paper, been protected since 2001, when it joined the Natura 2000. But these protections are often ignored in the face of the interests of Goliaths like Pescanova and the Port of Vigo.

“The Vigo fish market is the most important port for the commercialisation of fish for human consumption on the European continent, and it serves as a central point for fish trading at both European and global levels.”

Antonio, a resident of Rande, Redondela, Galicia, is one of the Davids who protect the entire Vigo estuary.

“I am a telecommunications engineer. I am in love with telecommunications and of course with nature. Life brought me to Rande where I met all the wonderful people who live here. We set up everything we set up because corporations and government came here to do terrible things, and something had to be done.”

For Antonio, there are always two fundamental pillars needed in the fight against Goliaths: social mobilisation and legal action.

“The Plataforma en Defensa da Ensenada de San Simón is a group composed of associations of neighbours, the sports-cultural association, associations of local fishermen and shellfish gatherers.”

It was created in 2004 by three neighbours who met while they were individually presenting allegations against a cement factory that was planned for construction in the Ensenada. 

“We found out about this plan through the press, and when we met at the town hall we started chatting, and that’s when we decided to form the Plataforma. Then we submitted the application to legally establish it, and after that, more colleagues started joining until there were 12 or 15 of us.”

When we met at a stone table under a native oak tree in Rande, Antonio and I were joined by Xurxo, another resident of the neighbourhood who is also part of the Plataforma.

“Think globally, act locally, right? Once you move to the rural environment, at least in my case, you realise that you can influence many things that affect you and your life, and you can try to change them effectively.”

The fighting spirit is undoubtedly one the best weapons of these residents to demonstrate that their land is not to be touched, but so is knowledge of the law, which they constantly study.

“As with many things, conservation law, on paper, has nothing to do with the reality we experience in our neighbourhood, as year after year, battle after battle, we have to ensure the laws that conserve this rich natural landscape are upheld,” Antonio shared.

The biggest problem, as in so many other places, is that the law is upheld by a Goliath.

“What they wanted was the same old story, comer mar, comer mar, comer mar” — or to eat the sea, which is a very common saying in Galician to describe when the shoreline is altered with sand or cement, affecting the natural flow of the water — “to make their facilities bigger.”

A cement factory was not built thanks to the pressure from the Plataforma’s efforts, rallying the entire neighbourhood through demonstrations and marches. These protests were organised in the living rooms and kitchens of the community, a group of neighbours tired of seeing their heritage destroyed and who did not stop until they reached, in some battles, the European Parliament, asking for “urgent action”. The Plataforma continued to win one battle after another for the past 20 years. With perseverance and determination, they halted seafood companies from building refrigeration plants; they won lawsuits; they protected historical buildings from being demolished; they forced the closure of an AUCOSA factory, which processed thousands of tonnes of fish to feed farms. They did all of this while creating the Museo Meirande and its surrounding parkland on an abandoned piece of land once owned by the family of Francisco Franco, which demonstrated alternatives to the typical commercial endeavours constructed at the expense of the environment.

2024 is the Plataforma’s 20th year of operating, and they are fighting to ensure the protection of an area of land, which is considered rustic land for coastal and environmental protection under the Natura 2000 Network. Rustic or rural land is a basic legal status for land in Spain. It refers to land that cannot be altered for construction, and thus cannot be used for residential or commercial purposes. Officially considered a Site of Community Importance (SCI), the Plataforma is seeking greater protection of this land, not only by the local government, but also by the Port of Vigo. Commercial interests threaten the land and the sea of the Ensenada de San Simón. The massive seafood company Pescanova (among others) are trying to take over as much of this land as possible. The Plataforma is also waiting to see what the World Fishing Company (WOFCO) has planned, another multimillion-dollar seafood company, who have recently displayed interest in the Ensenada de San Simón.

Walking along the coast with Antonio and Xurxo is a journey through their memories and the areas they have protected, an opportunity to appreciate what was stopped, how these natural spaces may have become seafood factories or concrete ports if not for the passion of a group of humans who feel lucky to have found one another. When recounting the history of the community activism in the Ensenada de San Simón, Antonio speaks of the almost divine presence of his friend and colleague Enrique Romasanta, who is recognised and beloved by all of the activists for his effective and unusual methods. Enrique appeared in the offices of the Port of Vigo with a written appeal on a paper napkin, which eventually made its way to the Supreme Court of Spain. The management plan for the Puerto de Vigo, one of the largest ports in the world, had not undergone an environmental impact study, which was uncovered by Enrique’s research. The Supreme Court of Spain annulled the Port’s land use plan and thus halted the construction of another refrigeration area.

“That’s one person alone,” Xurxo explained. “Imagine all the capacity that one person can have in their environment and the things they can change.”

Our walk continued toward a concrete platform, originally planned to be part of a bigger project, which the Plataforma halted. Unfortunately the building of the platform affected the flow of the sea, which Antonio explained.

“Little by little it’s emptying out. It was another atrocity that was done, a tremendous land reclamation project that changed the ocean currents, and that is noticeable on the beach, which is running out of sand. It is clear that all land reclamation has an impact on ocean currents.”

This community of around 1000 residents is perpetually struggling in a tug of war with the interests of the many Goliaths facing them. Sometimes a Goliath gets his way, sometimes a Goliath destroys an entire area that was inhabited by millions of clams. Regardless of who the next Goliath is, they will encounter the Plataforma en Defensa da Ensenada de San Simón. Although, according to Xurxo, the constant battle can be tiring.

“Fighting against Goliath is very, very exhausting. You have to have brutal patience and willpower.”

But the Plataforma overcomes this fatigue and continues on. The community’s strength wins as David will always defeat Goliath.

Helena Constela is a photographer, videographer, producer and activist. She works in the media team on Sea Shepherd’s ships, while also managing social media for both eco-nnect and Seaspiracy.

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