Green groups demand legal protection for native oak forests

Seven Portuguese environmental organisations warned on National Nature Conservation Day that native oak forests still lack a dedicated legal protection regime. Joining calls from the Alliance for Native Forest and a movement led by the Order of Biologists, they say current legislation is clearly insufficient. The groups describe oak woodlands as key ecosystem species that shelter plant, animal, fungal and microbial life while storing carbon and mitigating drought and fire. The most threatened habitats include Galician-Portuguese oak forests in Peneda-Gerês and the Monchique oak. Oak forests cover about 2.5% of Portugal's forested area.