The warnings were made by the organisation, which brings together more than 400 researchers from five research units at the universities of Lisbon and Coimbra and whose common theme is the sustainability of land use.

Sustainability in the use of natural resources is a fundamental premise to avoid ecological and economic disasters, says TERRA.

In the statement, the Laboratory recalls that World Soil Day was recently celebrated (December 5th), highlighting its importance for ecosystems and life on the planet, but also recalls the Government's recent decision to make land law more flexible, allowing that municipalities release land, particularly rustic land, for the construction of public housing or at “moderate prices”.

A wrong decision, in the words of Helena Freitas, professor of Biodiversity and Ecology at the University of Coimbra and coordinator of the Center for Functional Ecology (CFE, in its original acronym).

The TERRA Laboratory specialist says that the government's decision, approved by the Council of Ministers on November 28, “is very worrying”.

“Construction on rural land can lead to the loss of valuable agricultural, forestry or ecosystem areas, compromising biodiversity and ecosystem services.”

She adds that disorderly urbanisation without adequate planning, “can lead to uncontrolled urban expansion, leading to the creation of precarious infrastructure and increased dependence on automobile transport”, and the possible occupation of agricultural land for construction, reducing local food production capacity.

The expert questions what criteria will be used to define which rustic lands can be urbanized, and asks how to guarantee that the occupation of these lands will not compromise the ecological balance.

Helena Freitas suggests encouraging the recovery and requalification of abandoned, empty or underused buildings in urban areas.

“Why don’t urban areas be revitalised, improving the local quality of life; privileging underutilised urban land, thus reducing the need for urban expansion?”, she asks, adding that there are European cities such as Amsterdam or Copenhagen that prioritise urban densification by taking advantage of underutilised land.

“It already seemed to me and now it seems even more urgent to define soil suitability maps that identify critical areas for conservation, agriculture and biodiversity, prioritizing their protection”, says the expert, quoted on her page on a social network.