Get to know and feel the montado of Alentejo with the Forest Literacy project

On a pleasant day, students, Jorge Fernandes e Rita Alves of LPN and teachers from Portel EB 23 School gather around the school entrance for another initiative of the Literacy for Forests Project to walk, learn and feel the cork oak forest around the town of Portel.

Very well organized by the teacher João Martins, we went on the track of the Alentejo "montado". The Montado is not an impressive grove of trees, but it is one of the richest and most delicate ecosystems in the world. Made up for the most part of cork oaks, the tree that is the symbol of the typical landscape of this region, associated with holm oaks in some places, the montado performs important ecosystem functions in soil conservation, water quality and oxygen production. In addition to including a rich and diverse biodiversity, it has great economic importance due to the production of cork, which has made Portugal a world leader in cork exports, generating important revenues.

After the online sessions led by Rita Alves from LPN, in which the importance of the Forest was discussed, leading the students to discover and investigate the forest around them, two field trips were made in a circular route with the 8th A and 8th B classes, in the morning and afternoon, starting at the school up to Nossa Senhora da Saúde Fountain, with a length of approximately 3 km.

View of Portel's Gothic Castle - an important example of military architecture classified as a National Monument, founded in 1261.

After a presentation by a distinguished LPN teacher and Rita Alves, on the way, we observed the characteristic biodiversity of the cork oak forest, as shown by Professor João Martins, such as cork oaks - Quercus suber, olive trees - Olea europae, holm oaks - Quercus rotundifolia, stone pines - Pinus pinea, hawthorns - Crataegus monogyna, and in the cork oaks species such as broom, Montpellier cistus, asparagus - Asparagus officinalis, among others.

Explanation by Professor João Martins of some of the characteristic species of flora of the Alentejo cork oak forest.

Highlights include the aromatic herbs (thyme, rosemary, rosemary) that encircled the path and which in the future will serve, for example, as raw material for various products such as honey, by the mushrooms that establish a symbiotic relationship with the trees and the lichens which, in addition to providing humidity, are biomonitors of the quality of the environment. Crossing our path, from time to time, various birds appeared, in particular several cheminé swallows.

Nossa Senhora da Saúde Fountain.

After stopping at Nossa Senhora da Saúde spring to rest and have a snack, we observed domestic pigs and some animals resulting from the crossing of wild boar and domestic pigs.

According to some researchers there is a high probability that because of the cross-breeding of pigs and wild boar, swine fever will appear, partly due to the increase in wild boar.

Example of a cross between a wild boar and a pig from Alentejo.

The Alentejo cork oak forest is a dynamic structure which, if well managed, is one of the factors preventing forest fires, as the cork oaks, through their cork, constitute a natural protective barrier against fire. This fact was mentioned, in addition to the impact that climate change may have on the decline of the cork oak forest, which highlighted the need to change land use practices and combat climate change.

And with the message of prevention and the importance of the Forest, observing and interpreting the rich biodiversity of the Montado, the Literacy for the Forest Project ended in the 2020-2021 school year. The message will flow and will continue to spread seeds of the future that reinvigorate the forests around schools and the places where children and young people live.