It's web page that can help you look at the country with hope.

I'm lately in the mood for new interactive maps. This time, let's just say that I want to reflect on the green spot that still persists on appearing in our country, why? Let go over the statistics ... According to data provided by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forestry (ICNF), in Portugal burned between 2012 and 2013 about 121, 168 hectares of land, in a country with 3.2 million hectares of forest, representing 36 % of the national territory. And you might think that those numbers are far less catastrophic than you imagine, perhaps, depending on the point of view. It's still an almost irreparable tragedy if we think of the time, tens or even hundreds of years, that nature needs to recover from the wildfires, or other manmade catastrophes. However, it is no coincidence that hope is green, and it is demonstrate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA have developed an amazing interactive map of the vegetation that exists in the world. We can now see, with a surprising degree of detail which parts of the planet is covered by a green blanket and also the ones which are devoid of it. Thanks to satellite Suomi NPP, the map can even store 2TB of data weekly. The tool is a representation of the data collected for a year, so you can include all the world's plants , which have different rates of development . This makes it possible , for example , to see the contrast between the fertile banks of the Nile and the desert around them . The information can be used for many purposes, including weather forecasts and decision making related to land use practices, or even just to console your eyes with so much green! Enjoy!

http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/Green.html

Researcher and professor at the Institute of Geography and Regional Planning, of the University of Lisbon, he is also responsible for the unique study about the course of the natural disasters that hit Portugal.

What is the importance of the "disaster" for the country?
José Zêzere : The starting point of this project was a proposal to the Foundation for Science and Technology in 2008 / 09 and started in 2010 , resulted from a need to have data quality , reliable and relevant information on spates, floods, slopes and mass movements, for example, mudslides and landslides, as happens with some frequency in the islands. And yet, have a good record of events that occur over a period of time in order to know a number of things: What parts of the country are more frequent occurrences of these problems? Also realize if there was a significant temporal relevance? This is important later when we thought the definition of policy measures to tackle the problem. If they are growing in time or not? Know what the trend is in terms of consequences and whether or not there more people dying at the beginning of the nineteenth or twentieth? Therefore, our feeling is that the time we did had enough robust information available to make decisions. Which means that without this data we are likely to make more mistakes is much greater in the definition of measures, of mitigation, either preparing for disasters,

The study takes place between the dates of 1865 to 2010. Begins precisely in this date why?
JZ: The source of the database are the newspapers, means that we went to work with the information that you journalist produce, information was collected only in the newspapers, why in 1865? Because there were no daily newspapers prior to this date that we could use it for Continental Portugal. We used the reference of periodicals newspaper with a regular edition; we worked with the "daily news "that was the most important publication. More than half of the occurrences that we caught in the database "disaster" comes from this publication. 1865 is the year it was founded the "daily news".

This study includes only the continental country but excludes the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, where happen this kind of disaster, why?
JZ: Because the money we had available to develop the project only was enough to study the mainland. I could not include the Azores and Madeira. This is an issue, however, very important for both groups of islands that must be done with great accuracy and care. We now have all the conditions to extend the database with the same criteria that we had on the mainland, but we were not able to do that at the same time for the three portions of the territory.

There is a possibility in the near future to extend this project to the islands, or not?
JZ: At least the will and the idea to do it there and certainly we needed some features that are not expensive. Basically what my team and I need is to have a scholar student working allocated to the subject to divide his time between the reality of Madeira and the Azores and some file work that can be done also on the mainland. We are talking about a feature that is not expensive a scholarship costs 1,000 Euros per month and we are talking about 12 thousand Euros per year. From my point of view, and am biased, there are only gains that can be drawn from this type of information, such as for the civil protection that has access to this data so that it can reduce the risk.

A program about animals in SIC woman.

It's a funny television format, but especially for those who like animals is a light way to know not only the famous owners, but also to see the work of the institutions, or group of citizens, that defend animals. The adoption campaigns, or fundraising are key positive aspects of the program, because they serve as a vehicle to spread the information to the needs of not only pets, but also the people who care for them. The host is friendly and very young which also helps, I think the only strange thing is the voice of the dog, Lol, remembers me one of those recordings that went very wrong. They should rethink this issue. I don't think is unreasonable the idea of dubbing , quite the contrary, there are films in which animals " speak " , what confuses me , clearly, is how altered the " voice" of the jack russel terrier that is quite bizarre. Overall, however, Pets is a good way to talk about animals and their owners.

It is a small company of vegan footwear, of Portuguese origin, which not only seeks to encourage the use of alternative materials in the confection of the shoes, it also fosters ethical production of their collections, is a form of ecological and social consciousness, a sustainable philosophy of life for the benefit of your feet and the planet .

How the project Nae does arise?
Paula Pérez: The project started in 2008 first appeared because of my philosophy of life, I am vegan, which means not consumption any animal product. On the other hand, we are a country producer of footwear and I had this need in terms of shoes, so I decided to test my entrepreneurial streak so to speak.

Another reason relates to the lack of options in the domestic market or no?
PP: Yes, when analyzing the brands that did not use leather in their production of shoes would always stop in China, which is made with poor quality and we know the principles that govern in terms of production itself. In fact, there was no response from the market for vegan shoes in 2008.

Tell me then the collections, it does not use leather, then what kind of material use in the production of footwear?
PP: We have used mainly two types of materials, one textile fibers are microfibers are very durable and are produced based on ecological processes, therefore, do not undergo the process of tanning skin treatment and it is very polluting. Then we have the cork in the background is a natural material that comes from the cork oak tree and is treated in the sense of being cut, adapted and transformed as if it is a synthetic "leather" .

So how did you do the market research to find those synthetic fibers? It was a difficult process? There is this type of product in Portugal?
PP: It was a little difficult because we had to rely on products from abroad. All our shoes are made in Portugal, but some components are different, for example, the cut materials from the sole had come primarily from Italy and Germany, are the two countries that provide us with materials having the same quality or higher skin and allow replacing it.

What was the first piece designed for Nae and why?
PP: We were looking for a basic line, flat footwear that could meet the most basic needs of the people. To have a normal shoe and then the idea of the collection walked around this kind of shoes with rubber soles with black microfiber.

Yes, but I noticed that it is a robust collection; there are ankle boots and heels.
PP: Yes, exactly. That was in 2008. Then we started to develop another type of footwear that could respond to other needs, for people who like to wear a shoe to be able to go to work and we started designing shoes more classic and more casual. Therefore, we are quite heterogeneous in the line, do not follow only one style of flat shoes, tried to go to all segments to meet the needs of people, because not all like low heels.

This need arises to encourage various segments at the request of customers, or you understand that this is the natural evolution for the brand?
PP: We think vegan or ecological people do not have to be exactly hippies, also like most classic shoes. I look at myself I like to wear heels and had nothing, I do not like very low shoes, but had to be vegan, had to respect certain principles of ecology and they were produced in Portugal. We felt that the natural evolution of society goes through environmental awareness and we want to respond to all types of market.

It is a paperback edition collected by Adolfo Coelho.

I decided to choose this little compendium of Portuguese folktales as a reading suggestion for one reason only; the Nobel Prize in Literature 2013 was awarded to one Canadian short story writer. It is a genre often considered minor in the letter world, but has nothing small, since a great story can also be told in a few pages, all you need is a great talent to do so and we are not lacking of writers, as is the case of Alice Munro and others whose name's are lost in the erosion of time, as in the case of these tales or legends of these most popular Portuguese tales that reached us thank to this anonymous heralds. Interestingly in this book you will find some well known stories, but the most interesting tales and legends involve kings, queens, Moors, witches and saints, mucho of the liking of the Portuguese. I will not reveal my favorite; I leave to the taste of the readers. Have a nice reading.

Gala drop is synonymous of breakneck rhythms, some more exploratory than others, but they are always a prelude to a view that does not want to be single, but multifaceted and dynamic.

The " gala drop" start with three elements.
Nelson Gomes : No, we're five , but the band started in 2005 with me and Tiago Miranda who is no longer part of the group , because currently has solo projects . At one point, it appeared Afonso Simões on the drums and gradually more people were entering as the group was growing.

When you started the band what you wanted in terms of music?
NG: The band starts out as something different than we do now. The project was essentially poliform, something more of the music very environmental. Were free forms, an idea of song and sound mass over time, then began to feel some frustration with what we did, because it did not embody what we were and there was a desire to change the "gala drop" to something more polyrhythmic, mainly electronic, and more pulsating.

But, it is noticeable that the albums grow in terms of musical influences.
NG: There is an idea to work other ideas that we wanted to explore, but still we had not done. It's very rhythmic and polyrhythmic remains on all records and the idea of electronics also explores later the guitar that allows us to go more rock ambiences, more Balearic, more tropical somehow and include other musicians. It is a release of other more static processes that happened when we were only three, me, Tiago and Afonso. There was earlier a form of play and work very clinging to pre - recordings that made us static. Currently we have a band where all people take these little elements that we used pre -recorded which now allows us to be more dynamic, more alive and pulsating .

There has been a partnership with Ben Chasny in the third album, why you chose this musician?
NG: We did not choose nor wanted anything. It was an invitation from him in 2008 when we launched the first album. Ben is a longtime friend and one time he heard the record when we were all together and after a while sent me an email saying he would love to go with us on tour and in the same year in 2009 at the end he said he liked to record with "gala drop". In the beginning I couldn't see how, because the type of music that he does did not coincide with what we did, but it would be a pleasure anyway so the work appear. We developed 3-4 themes to work with him and then other also. The invitation was something spontaneous, there was not a goal, the only thing we said was that it was impossible to make a record in which he was all alone at home, that it was comfortable for him, that's what we tried to do, adapt our sound and include him, creating space to include his music.

But, your styles are completely different and even disparate musical terms.
NG: It was not very difficult, because the idea of the music was done by us, it was just be careful when we were composing these themes leave room for him to integrate into our own music and keep in mind what he was doing. And think that the objective was achieved.

Why called it "Broda "?
NG: It's a Cape Verdean band very important the early 70s, had a great influence on us. Also the word also means brother and in a way this is Ben.

This is a small short film of warning by Nuno Rodrigues and Pedro Sousa in defense of a wave that would disappear due to human intervention, on the west coast of the island of Madeira.

How the project "save Paul do Mar" started?
Nuno Rodrigues: I and Pedro Sousa, both do body board, which is a sport that involves catching waves. For years we go to Paul do Mar to practice this sport. Then came the news in the papers giving an account of the construction of a road that would connect the village to the harbor, this building was going to start into the sea , and would most likely damage the wave, by which we are here. Both did photo and decided to make a video that shows the potential of wave and thus people could become aware of what we had. There are many who are not aware of the reality of surfing. And this way it was possible to show the potential and beauty that exists on the island. I do not know, nor Peter, if this was the case, but we liked to think that this film help so the works would not go forward.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in making the film?
NR: Both I and Peter were still green in this area, and I am sure that although he is not present would agree with me. Since the image capture, the realization, production and even in the edition we had new challenges, because surfing is not like other sports, like football that you just get a field players and a ball. In this modality, this is not possible; there are need waves and the sea's boss. We needed good images in Paul do Mar and coming from the Funchal involved cost and often we got here and no one was in the water and it could not be us, because we were shooting there . Regarding the interviews, capturing the audio was also a new experience, but nowadays I still think that we are still very inexperienced.

What was the reaction of people when they showed the movie? Were surprised or not?
NR: Yes, at the time the film was much talked about.

Rodrigo Vairinhos is a Portuguese designer, based in Germany, who constantly creates unique products of cutting edge, that present a fun post- modern elegance, without forgetting its functionality.

Why chose design?
Rodrigo Vairinhos : The decision to embark on the design was not something that I pondered too early , it was something I realized in high school , from the early 10.ano ... that felt good in the field of creative arts and in the work that drew more to the field of technical manuals , but for someone so young at the time , after school and before entering college, for me , the concept of " design " was a very complex and indefinite which then later , during the University , has been consolidated , from my 19 years of age. Anyway, my decision could not have been more right, because I was about to hang from the course in architecture. However , I do not mean that I chose design by chance, but at the time knew it was the right decision , because this area has the artistic side implied which I loved, and on the other hand, the commercial part , that at the beginning would sustain me .

What was the first piece that you draw and represents you?
RV: The first piece I designed for my brand was a chair. It's called "V.CHAIR" and represents the beginning of my career as an independent professional. At the time, the design of the chair was much appreciated, it was a seen as looking very interesting, and it is geometric, inspired by the structures of iron bridges, later associated with very strong colors. Where ever I was, the chair was always the center of attention. It was a very important piece that opened doors for me and the first designed for the world of design. Much more than a simple object, after the creation of the chair came invitations to exhibitions and fairs. Also emerged, the first contacts with the public and business. International recognition followed contacts with the press around the world and the first publications to show my work.

The ideas for products arise from material or from a basic need?
RV: Ideas for my products arise, among other conditions, from a necessity associated with a shape and material. A need embodied in a form in which different "components" conjugate. My work develops often also from a form, that after explored, solidifies and falls a necessity. My creative process is very diverse and the way I breathe is very different and not methodical.

What constitutes a challenge in terms of design or not?
RV: Any project whether is "simple" or not, I see it always as such. All that drawing represents a challenge. It is when I talk to present to the market a product that claims to be better than the competition, when I give 200 % of myself when I give myself entirely to reflect on a new design. "Be better" is my challenge. That's what moves me as creative / creator.
It is going beyond the mainstream, is challenging the conventions and traditional. A defy for me is also the unknown, is not knowing what the end results and you'll get the unexpected. And what for me is not a challenge is monotonous and simply abandon the idea, or even interest me.

Report of Quercus indicates serious flaws in air monitoring in Madeira and certain urban areas of the mainland.

According to the data of the report of the European Environment Agency (EEA) for Portugal, the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, directly related to road traffic, have a growing and worrying trend. "In a review in greater detail the air quality data for 2012, using the database QUALAR provided by the Portuguese Environment Agency, there is non-compliance with the limit values for particulate matter (PM10) in various areas of the stations Porto coast, Aveiro / Ílhavo, Estarreja and Lisbon. The lack of financial resources is the main responsible for the malfunctioning of the four official stations in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, in clear violation of laid down in legislation and not allowing an assessment of population exposure. The same conditions should also weigh in the case of the Lisbon and Tagus Valley, where 14 of the 25 stations present in the database have had an efficiency of data collection inferior to the law.

At the same time, and in a generic way, particle concentrations have been declining slightly, the same happening, but less markedly, with ozone concentrations. "The firsts should be a result of reducing road traffic and improving fleet, mainly of diesel vehicles. Regarding the ozone, also reducing road traffic, the reduction in some industrial activity and favorable weather conditions have provided this improvement . In the opinion of Quercus and several non -governmental environmental European , "this study AEA is another serious appeal to the European Commission , but especially the governments of the Member States to implement measures to improve air quality and thus safeguard the health of its citizens" they conclude in a statement .

http://www.quercus.pt/

It is one of the obligatory stops in Oporto , the Serralves Foundation .

Whenever we visit Serralves expect the unexpected . It is as if we entered an expanded universe, with different latitudes , different cultural, architectural and landscape nuances. There is a bit of everything for everyone , even for the most demanding. It's the place to be . For inspiration . To love . To discover . If you do not visit the exhibitions and green spaces that surround the founding I promise you that never visited the city of Porto . It's like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope . It is just like that. To start the main pink building has an art deco inspiration , even the interiors are worth a tour , are an unassuming lavishness that is deeply articulated with its exterior . It's like traveling back in time to an era where the glamour was served in flutes lalique and excesses wore gold and lapis lazuli .

While discovering the many green spaces of this magical place , we notice immediately that there was care in the choice of plants and flowers that reflect distinct worlds of delight. The handrail of old trees , stately in its verticality , soon after exiting the house , they attract our attention , as we can guess each of its metamorphoses , before the momentum of the seasons , especially the fall of leaves in autumn with its various shades of dry green and orange .