Perfect Portugal
David Chandler reports on a new initiative creating a nature-tourism destination in the Alentejo
We report on a new initiative creating a nature-tourism destination in the Alentejo
The way we live has been, and is being, shaken. When the shaking subsides and international birding opportunities creak open, travel may be more expensive and for many of us, therefore, less frequent. So, when we do travel we will want to come back with some great memories, and ideally our wanderings will have benefited the wildlife, the people and the places that we encountered along the way. Portugal Wildscapes could help us to do all of that.
Biodiversity and landscapes
The Alentejo sits south of Lisbon and north of the Algarve. Portugal Wildscapes promotes various forms of nature-tourism, not all of them ‘hard-core’, in the lower Alentejo, which is about 90 minutes by car from either of those start points, or which can be accessed by taking a train to Funcheira. The Alentejo is one of Portugal’s poorer regions. About 80% of its economy depends on zinc mining, which employs roughly 1,000 people. A lack of enthusiasm for mining among the young means that many leave to seek work elsewhere. But what the Alentejo
lacks in Euros, it makes up for in biodiversity, landscapes, history, food and wine. I suspect at least one of those may have piqued your interest!
The wildlife icons used to promote Portugal Wildscapes are the Great Bustard and the Iberian Lynx, both of which are seriously tempting propositions. Iberian Lynx are found nowhere else in Portugal, and the Wildscapes area has extensive steppe – the only such areas in the country, rocky landscapes – with rocky birds – and Mediterranean scrub. It is home to the Castro Verde UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, which, at almost
57,000 hectares and about 200 bird species, is a significant asset, and the Guadiana River Valley Natural Park – home to one of Europe’s wildest rivers. Throw in some Roman and Moorish history, local wines and cheeses, and soups made with bread, and the reasons to visit mount up even more.
The Lundin Foundation
Portugal Wildscapes was kickstarted by the Lundin Foundation. Registered in Canada, the Lundin Foundation supports Lundin companies, including the Lundin Mining Corporation, by “making strategic investments in communities across the globe”. Given the links to mining, I wasn’t sure about getting involved. But the foundation wants to “create lasting benefits for communities impacted by resource operations” and that sounds reasonable enough.
For this project the Lundin Foundation commissioned the Community Insights Group, “an international social impact management consultancy” based in the Netherlands. Their brief was to develop a business and governance model, and a business plan for the project. Portugal Wildscapes is the result.
Work began back in 2017. Stakeholders were consulted, experts brought together, and Portugal Wildscapes emerged. It connects to the wider world through its own website ( portugalwildscapes.com) and its own app, and aims to create local jobs that may tempt at least some young people to stay. Local people want to capitalise on the region’s natural assets – to bring in people who will enjoy the wildlife, the landscape, the culture and the food, and leave a bit of their wealth behind for those who provide accommodation, coffee, culinary delights and guiding services.
If all goes well, Portugal Wildscapes will attract funds for conservation and for growing local capacity – to produce leaflets and improve English language skills for example. The new income will diversify the region’s economy. I visited in November 2019 when the Portugal Wildscapes manager was about to be appointed – she is young, and will start work in July. And I heard a tale of a local restaurant owner telling her hunter customers not to shoot the birds. Wildlife tourists are welcome!
How does it work?
Your start point is portugalwildscapes.com, which is still developing. The end point is up to you. Wildscapes enables you to do it by yourself, or buy a package. You can use it to find a self-guided hiking trail – ‘The path of the Great Bustard’ for example, an 18.3km circular route with 79m of climbing on a trail graded as moderate. The website says it will take you six hours – that will depend on how many bustards you see.
Or you could try a self-guided bike ride – ‘Off the Road – Into the Wildscapes’. It’s a 26 hour journey covering almost 400km with 3,101m of climbing (and more to the point, the same amount coming downhill) and is graded as ‘difficult’. If you’d prefer someone else to take on some responsibility, you could buy a package. A birds and walking package from Portugal A2Z, or a cycling package from Bike Tours Portugal, the latter including bed and breakfasts, maps, GPS tracks, a tyre repair kit (now, why would you need that?) and, importantly, a donation to Portugal Wildscapes.
If you want something with plenty of birding, how about a five-day birdwatching package that includes the Lisbon estuaries (definitely worth a visit) and the Alentejo, or a day birding around the Castro Verde plains and the Guadiana Valley, both courtesy of Birds & Nature Tours Portugal? The website also includes information on a whole host of places you might want to visit while you’re there – museums, chapels, archaeological sites, lots of ‘Birdspots’ and more, as well as lots
of options for where you might stay and where you might eat.
The free-to-download app is good, too. When I looked, the birdwatching lists included information about 34 Birdspots, one group tour and the Biosphere Reserve. Some included more details than others, but there is a route-finding function – to take you from where you are to the Birdspot of your choice. The app has less information than the website though.
Portugal Wildscapes is about more than great travel experiences. It aims to be a global tourism initiative that makes a positive impact on the ecosystems it depends on. It wants to operate in a way that does its biodiversity good. Success will depend on the preservation of local traditions and land uses which have protected the region’s wonderful wildlife for decades. Wildscapes will generate funds to support conservation initiatives directly via a percentage from each package sold and a quarterly fee from restaurants and the like.
Hopefully, EU money will be secured as well and Iberian Imperial Eagles, Black Vultures, Lesser Kestrels, Little and Great Bustards and Iberian Lynx will be among the beneficiaries. Habitats will be improved and bird-feeding sites and video monitoring of nest sites set up. And visitors will be able to see some of this for themselves – Birds & Nature Tours Portugal will show their clients something of what their money is being spent on.
So, when the viral dust has settled, here’s something positive that you could do for the lower Alentejo.
IT AIMS TO BE A GLOBAL TOURISM INITIATIVE THAT MAKES A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE ECOSYSTEMS IT DEPENDS ON