Sobreira Tree Rescue Hub

Cork oak or ‘sobreiro’ is the national tree of

Portugal. It is a protected species under Decree-

Law No. 169/2001, although the first tree

protection status was made in 1546 when King

Joao III forbade the cutting of this tree, making

this one of the oldest protected trees in the world.

The area is rich in wildlife and biodiversity. The

area is known as Portugal’s biodiversity and

rewilding hotspot, with lynxes, wolves and bison

reintroduced in neighbouring lands.

Montado is an ancestral cultural landscape of mixed native open forest and agricultural land. Montado is an agro-silvo-pastoral system maintained by centuries-old protective legislation and guardianship. The cultural and environmental value is so significant, Montado was included in UNESCO’s Tentative World Heritage List in 2017. The interconnectivity between local community and land extends to cultural practices. In gastronomy, for instance, human consumption of holm oak acorns or ‘bolotas’ dates back to the Bronze Age.

Welcome to Guardians Portugal

It is vital to support the guardianship of Montado as this ecosystem faces numerous threats including overgrazing, soil erosion and in more vulnerable areas, extreme problems including wildfires, desertification and abandonment.

Floresta de Portelas lies a few miles south of Serra Gardunha and Serra Malcata, which mark the ecological boundary between Northern and Southern Portugal, in a land corridor characterized by mild micro-climate and the abundance of surface water. Our aim is to steward the land for research, action and community work around reforestation and land regeneration.

The land has an elevation of 576 meters. It is part of the granite ridge of Monsanto, near the Spanish and Portuguese border.

The land is dominated by four different species of native oak: namely, cork oak (quercus suber), holly oak (quercus ilex), holm oak (quercus rotundifolia) and common oak (quercus robur). There are numerous smaller species on site like strawberry trees (arbutus unedo), native shrubs, as well as a variety of aromatic and medicinal plants.