Open letter from Professor Manuel Almeida, eminent naturalist from the Royal University of Porto, from the kingdom of the Monarchy of the North, and published in Real Gazeta Invicta, on March 11, 1922

Dear Director of Real Gazeta Invicta, Hon. Mr. Dr. Miguel Praça,

I address Your Excellency and all readers as a last measure of despair, in an appeal for a resolution to a situation that will affect us all.  Since the war between our beloved Monarchy and the Republic of the southern capital began, I dedicated myself to the only contribution I could offer as a patriot, the study and preservation of the natural wealth of our Douro land. Because if we do not prepare for peace, we will never win the war, and peace is sustained not only by ideals, diplomacy and accurate policies, but also by the richness of nature and the knowledge it brings, something that Alexander the Great recognized by sending to his old master, the philosopher Aristotle, examples of the fauna and flora of the territories he conquered. That’s why with amazement, firstly, and horror secondly, I noticed that since we started to implement the intensive production of wine fuel for the technology we developed since the beginning of the war, the fish of the Douro River have being severely affected. The brutal discharges of waste from wine bioethanol and its production have colored our  Acipenser sturio  red. This change of color was followed by death and death eliminated the reproductive cycle of this fish that animated the waters of the Douro and was so praised by the Roman conquerors. In less than three years, our waters and our tables lost the richness that this fish brought, due to pollution. I call for measures to be taken to reduce discharges from the production of wine bioethanol into rivers or we will face famine following the war. The hunger of stomach, soul and thought.

Yours sincerely,

Manuel Almeida

(Professor at the Royal University of Porto)