News

What was reported

• Ecosystems

  ZERO warns on desertification as UN COP17 opens in Mongolia

  As Mongolia hosts the world's desertification summit, ZERO points to a figure showing most of mainland Portugal is already at risk.

  16 August 2026ZERO

• Ecosystems

  Nature institute to target wild boar entry routes into Setúbal

  Wild boar keep turning up on Setúbal's streets and beaches, and authorities are now targeting how they get there.

  14 August 2026LisbonICNF

• Ecosystems

  Viana do Castelo group organises invasive pampas grass removal

  A riverside picnic spot in Viana do Castelo becomes the site of a hands-on battle against a fast-spreading plant.

  14 August 2026Norte

• Ecosystems

  NGOs urge total ban on seabed-damaging fishing in new reserve

  Six conservation groups say banning trawling alone won't save Portugal's vast new marine reserve.

  14 August 2026ZERO

• Ecosystems

  Five species highlight case for Dom Carlos marine reserve

  From sharks to corals nearly 4,200 years old, scientists list what is at stake in a vast Atlantic reserve.

  14 August 2026Sciaena

• Ecosystems

  Alentejo tangerine plantation approved despite water warnings

  After three rejections, regulators just approved a huge farming project on a critically overexploited Alentejo aquifer.

  14 August 2026AlentejoZERO

• Ecosystems

  Tondela to start post-fire recovery works by end of September

  A 177,000-euro recovery plan for Tondela's fire-scarred land is set to begin within weeks.

  14 August 2026CentroICNF

• Ecosystems

  Coimbra wins funding to renovate Paul de Arzila wetland centre

  Two municipalities just secured matching grants for the same nature reserve visitor centre near Coimbra.

  14 August 2026CentroICNF

• Ecosystems

  Portugal still fined daily over unfinished conservation zones

  Three protected areas, including Serra da Estrela, are still costing Portugal money every single day.

  13 August 2026ICNF

• Ecosystems

  Portugal to bury 10km of power lines to protect birds

  Three power line sections near Castro Verde will disappear underground after markers failed to stop bird deaths.

  13 August 2026AlentejoQuercus

• Ecosystems

  Portugal's Environmental Fund reallocates funding across forests and water

  Four million euros for forest clearance, a bigger gas subsidy, and new money for a fire-hit protected landscape in the Serra do Açor.

  12 August 2026Guardiãs da Natureza

• Ecosystems

  Cyclists face expulsion from Volta a Portugal for littering in Gerês forest

  Riders in Portugal's biggest cycling race risk disqualification for a single infraction during a protected forest crossing.

  12 August 2026NorteICNF

• Ecosystems

  Queluz Palace gardens host night walks about bats

  As dusk falls over the geometric gardens of Queluz, a hidden nocturnal resident comes out to hunt.

  12 August 2026Lisbon

• Ecosystems

  Portugal opens 29 cases over destroyed swallow nests

  Nine cases came from central Portugal alone, part of a wider pattern of nest destruction across the country.

  9 August 2026ICNF

• Ecosystems

  Portugal's €500m yearly nature restoration plan needs proper planning

  An opinion piece warns that Portugal's biggest ecological investment yet could fail without one crucial ingredient.

  9 August 2026IPR

• Ecosystems

  Pombal recruits young volunteers to clear invasive species

  Volunteers aged 16 to 21 will spend five hours a day pulling invasive plants from a Pombal park this summer.

  7 August 2026CentroICNF

• Ecosystems

  Environmental confederation calls for 800 nature wardens in Portugal

  Portugal currently has just 286 Nature Wardens covering over 2,500 hectares each, an environmental confederation warns.

  7 August 2026ICNF

• Ecosystems

  New cultural park in Porto Covo links art to land regeneration

  On a 30-hectare Alentejo property, beach litter collected by hand is being turned into fine art photography.

  6 August 2026AlentejoICNF

• Ecosystems

  Rewilding Portugal releases first wild rabbits in Côa valley

  Seventeen wild rabbits were released into three protected enclosures as part of a plan to bring wolves and lynx back to the Côa valley.

  5 August 2026CentroRewilding Portugal

• Ecosystems

  French vet student joins Portugal's black vulture conservation project

  A French veterinary student is spending months in the field with Portugal's black vulture teams, sifting through regurgitated pellets.

  5 August 2026AlentejoLPN

• Ecosystems

  Loulé launches guide to attract natural capital investment

  A Portuguese municipality maps seven zones, from Rocha da Pena to Fonte Benémola, to draw money into nature.

  5 August 2026AlgarveNBI

• Ecosystems

  Portugal funds 18 protected-area co-management projects with €3 million

  Companhia das Lezírias, Portalegre council and 16 other entities share the funding pot, from Peneda-Gerês to Odemira.

  5 August 2026SPEA

• Ecosystems

  Madeira adds five new forest firefighters to ranks

  Five recruits now begin training for a career Madeira pioneered nationally back in 2018.

  4 August 2026MadeiraIFCN

• Ecosystems

  Portugal's roller population depends on artificial nests to survive

  Nearly all of Portugal's rollers now nest in a single region, and researchers call their recovery a "conservation trap".

  3 August 2026AlentejoLPN

• Ecosystems

  Environmental groups demand urgent hiring of nature wardens

  Portugal has just 286 nature wardens, each responsible for over 2,500 hectares of protected land.

  3 August 2026ICNF

• Ecosystems

  Madeira on high wildfire alert as heat warning turns orange

  A key mountain road in Madeira stays shut as authorities ban bonfires and warn hikers of the heat.

  3 August 2026MadeiraIFCN

• Ecosystems

  Rewilding Portugal pushes to remove Côa river barriers

  Leftover structures from a dam that was never finished still flood ancient rock art in the Côa valley.

  3 August 2026CentroRewilding Portugal

• Ecosystems

  Wild boar and deer road collisions rise sharply in Portugal

  Incidents on roads managed by Infraestruturas de Portugal jumped from under 20 a year before 2015 to over 140 in 2025.

  2 August 2026CentroICNF

• Ecosystems

  European roller now almost entirely confined to Castro Verde

  Nearly all of Portugal's remaining breeding pairs of this vividly coloured bird now nest in a single Alentejo region.

  31 July 2026Alentejo

• Ecosystems

  Leiria researchers build round-the-clock autonomous drone forest watch

  A smart docking system now lets Leiria's fire-watch drones swap and recharge without ever stopping their patrol.

  31 July 2026CentroICNF