1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Sintra
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Reabilitação da Ribeira da Mata
Short description of the intervention
In 2017, under a bigger project, the municipality of Sintra started the work for the rehabilitation of an area that included beaches and rivers, such as the Mata river. The NBS solves a problem of accumulation of water and sludge that was unsolved, through the recovery and cleaning of Ribeira da Mata (small river/brook), planting trees and promotion of an improvement in water quality and sand on the beach.
(1)
Address

Caminho da Ribeira da Mata
Sintra
Portugal

Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
The NBS is located in a coastal area, it includes a beach and some rivers that overflow into the sea (1)
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2016
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2017
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
1)To promote an improvement in the water and sand of the beach, enabling the award of the blue flag to this beach (awarded annually by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)).
2)To recover and clean the Ribeira da Mata.
3)Formation of a visual curtain to minimise the negative visual impacts of a nearby WWTP, through the planting of trees. (ref.1)
Quantitative targets
serve 5,500 people that live in the parish of Magoito (1)
Monitoring indicators defined
no of people that will benefit from the NBS (1)
Implementation activities
The SMAS of Sintra (water company) are carrying out rehabilitation works of the Magoito ETAR (WWTP), aiming to equip this treatment station with mechanisms for reuse of water courses, which run from an accumulation of other watercourses in the rainy season.
Equip the treatment plant with mechanisms to reuse water courses and to recover and clean the Ribeira da Mata and the formation of a visual curtain to the WWTP minimizing the visual impacts, through the planting of trees. (ref.1)
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Blue infrastructure
Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
Coastlines
Vegetation Type
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown number of trees
Amenities offered by the NBS
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Coastal protection
Flood regulation
Water purification / filtration
Cultural services
Tourism
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Governance
Non-government actors
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Contracting Entity: SMAS of Sintra (Portuguese water company). Contracted Entity: Ambiágua - Gestão de Equipamentos de Águas, S.A.
(ref.4)
Key actors - initiating organization
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
EU body
National government
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Yes
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
PO SEUR: Operational Program Sustainability and Efficiency in the Use of Resources, created through the Execution Decision of the European Commission 2014.
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
Strategic Plan for Water Supply and Sanitation of Wastewater (ref.2)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
Proposal No. 486-P / 2015 - To approve the opening of the public tender procedure limited by prior qualification 04EL / 2015, regarding the Rehabilitation contract for the Magoito WWTP, under the terms of the proposal. (ref.6)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Strategic Plan for Water Supply and Sanitation of Wastewater (ref.2)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
1)GEOALGAR (consulting and prospecting company in the areas of geology, geotechnics, hydrogeology and environment) carried out the geological and geotechnical studies for the rehabilitation of the Magoito WWTP, in the municipality of Sintra. Geotechnical prospecting consisted of the conduct of surveys with SPT trials. (ref.3).
2)Henriques, C. (2009).Reabilitação da ETAR do Magoito Recorrendo a Reactores Biológicos por Membranas. Dissertation / Project to obtain the Master's Degree in: Civil Engineering. (ref.5)
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
1)PO SEUR:Operational Program Sustainability and Efficiency in the Use of Resources, created through the Execution Decision of the European Commission 2014. 2)Portugal 2020: This is the PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT between Portugal and the European Commission (see DECISION), which brings together the five European Structural Funds and Investment Funds - ERDF, Cohesion Fund, ESF, EAFRD and FEAMP. (ref.4)
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Financing
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Total eligible cost: € 905,323.14
Financial support from the European Union: € 769,524.67
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Type of innovation
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Description of environmental benefits
No reports were found for this NBS, unfortunately. When the implementation process started it was expected that the action will improve the water quality through the recovery of the Ribeira da Mata (river) and an increase in vegetation cover through the planting of trees. (1)
Economic impacts
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Description of social and cultural benefits
Unknown
Type of reported impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of July 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
Yes
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
The Blue Flag is an environmental award awarded annually to beaches, marinas and recreational ports that meet a set of criteria for environmental management, environmental education, information, bathing water quality, services and user safety. In Portugal, the award is developed by the Portuguese Blue Flag Association (ABAE), the Portuguese section of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and has the technical support of the Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA), among other public and private entities with responsibilities In the management of beaches, marinas and recreational ports.unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
Yes
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Documents relevant to the intervention
List of references
(1) Câmara Munic. Sintra (2017) Reabilitação da ETAR do Magoito em curso Available at http://www.cm-sintra.pt/reabilitacao-da-etar-do-magoito-em-curso (Accessed 22-6-2020).

(2) Câmara Municipal de Sintra (2014), TEMA 9 – Infraestruturas: Relatório de Caracterização e Diagnóstico do Concelho de Sintra, Available at https://cm-sintra.pt/phocadownload/PDF/consulta_publica/revisao_pdm/documentos-consulta/relatorios-diagnostico/Tema-9-Infraestruturas.pdf (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(3) GeoAlgar (2015), Reabilitação de ETAR´s no Concelho de Sintra, Available at https://www.geoalgar.pt/es/2015/10/reabilitacao-de-etars-no-concelho-de-sintra (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(4) POSEUR (2016), Reabilitação da ETAR do Magoito, Available at https://www.smas-sintra.pt/images/stories/noticias/noticias2017/fichaposeuraetarmagoito.pdf (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(5) Henriques, C. (2009), Reabilitação da ETAR do Magoito Recorrendo a Reactores Biológicos por Membranas. Dissertation / Project to obtain the Master's Degree in: Civil Engineering, Available at https://fenix.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/downloadFile/395139409039/Projecto%20base%20da%20Reabilita%E7%E3o%20da%20ETAR%20do%20Magoito%20Recorrendo%20a%20Reactores%20Biol%F3gicos%20por%20Membranas.pdf (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(6) Síntese da 39ª Reunião Ordinária e Pública da Câmara Municipal de Sintra (Website not available in 2020)

Comments and notes
Comments
It was very hard to figure out is the project was completed or not so since I wasn't able to find data online I have decided to leave it ongoing as in stage of the NBS.
Additional insights
Update August 2020: I would also like to say that this NBS is the continuation of a bigger project funded by the EU between 2004-2007. Here is the link to the intervention:
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.dspPage&n_proj_id=2680