PAUL DE TOIRÕES

Paul de Toirões is a key area for landscape connectivity in the Greater Côa Valley, in Malhada Sorda, Almeida. Here, Rewilding Portugal is implementing ecological restoration actions to make the Greater Côa Valley a place where natural processes and complete food chains play fundamental roles in the landscape.

Formerly known as Quinta de Santa Margarida, the most recent area to be managed by Rewilding Portugal has also received a new name, Paul de Toirões, which illustrates the envisioned future for these lands on the eastern edge of the Côa Valley, close to the border with Spain.

RICARDO FERREIRA

Mining, which ceased almost a decade ago, gave rise to one of the largest water surfaces in the entire Côa Valley, and contrary to what happens in the region’s dams and reservoirs, this water is distributed in a great diversity of environments such as lagoons, canals, and permanent and temporary ponds, all interconnected by seasonally flooded wetlands and full of aquatic and riverine vegetation that grows on the former wolfram and sand extraction areas. Around all this water, a young but extensive forest occupies the flat terrain, composed mainly of black oak, holm oak and cypresses. This area is already important for biodiversity, with rich communities of aquatic flora and fauna, and is home to the beautiful striped-shelled tortoise and the black stork, which feed and take refuge here regularly.

Some of the first management measures planned for Paul de Toirões were intervention with movement in the most recent mining areas, softening some slopes, facilitating access and reducing the risk to wildlife, and increasing the flooding area, as well as diversifying the forest with native species. In a future conditioned by climate change, Paul de Toirões could function as an oasis for wildlife in the Greater Côa Valley, guaranteeing the permanence and return of many species essential to the ecosystem, and demonstrating how rewilding can be a viable solution even in landscapes most altered by humans. It is now available for visitors, but only on a guided tour. This area also has a wildlife observation hide installed and a luxury camping service available for booking.