Lusitanica, past, present and future!

Five years ago, in 2016, we began our ecological restoration work on the land of the Lusitanica project. Since then, efforts to restore and conserve the ecosystems that make up our micro-reserves have not ceased. Involving and raising the awareness of the local community has always been a fundamental aspect/strategy so that the objectives outlined for our lands could be understood and extended to the surrounding areas. In this context, in March 2016, we carried out our first plantation in Fonte do Cabreiro and in May of the same year we held one of the first environmental education activities, an amphibian identification workshop, where it was possible to observe a diverse number of species of this important faunal group in the then 0.5 ha managed by us!

In 2019, we started to manage another micro-reserve and the land of Moinho da Marçaneira was added to the land of Fonte do Cabreiro, and the BioLiving Association now manages a total of 1.8 ha dedicated to nature conservation. The collaboration of more than 250 volunteers has been crucial to maintain the management of our micro-reserves. Over these five years, more than 700 native trees and shrubs have been planted and 1.1 ha of eucalyptus trees have been removed and controlled. In these planting actions, we mainly use plants from our nursery. This nursery is maintained through the contribution of local business partnerships to purchase native trees and shrubs. In addition, we collect and germinate seeds of local plant species, thus preserving the genetic heritage adapted to the abiotic conditions of the region, optimising the germination rate.

We have also controlled invasive exotic species such as mimosa (Acacia dealbata) and australia (Acacia melanoxylon), built ponds for wildlife and deadwood fences, cleaned a water mill and 120 metres of a traditional water cannal and monitored the biodiversity present in our micro-reserves and surrounding areas. The Lusitanica grounds have already been the scene of footage of native fauna species, such as the lusitanian salamander (Chioglossa lusitanica) and the stag beetle (Lucanus cervus), by Wildstep Productions, who recorded moments in our micro-reserves of these very characteristic and ecologically relevant species of the Lusitanian ecosystems.

In the future we aim to expand our micro-reserve area and influence more and more people to use more sustainable forest management models that respect and conserve our rich natural heritage!