Veredas da Estrela

Veredas da Estrela (“Paths of Estrela”) is a community and environmental association in Figueiró da Serra and Freixo da Serra, two mountain villages in the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, Central Portugal. Local residents founded it as a direct response to the 2022 wildfires, which destroyed roughly 25% of the natural park. They were determined to stop devastation like that from happening again. The association's purpose is to create living communities and ecosystems that are more resilient to forest fires. In practice that means restoring degraded land, reclaiming and maintaining hiking trails, improving fire safety and prevention, and encouraging biodiversity and healthy ecosystems across the two villages. Members and volunteers meet for hands-on actions: clearing and wooding land, restoring paths, and community events that combine environmental care with local socialising and cultural continuity. The association also sees itself as a link between the past and present of these historic mountain villages. It recovers memories and traditions while building something new for future generations. The most notable of its public events is the Chocalhos Trail, a hiking and trail-running event that brings hundreds of participants into the mountains around Figueiró and Freixo. It combines outdoor recreation with awareness of how fragile the landscape is and how it is regenerating. The work has drawn national attention, including a feature by the Portuguese broadcaster SIC on the region's recovery. It has also received international recognition through networks focused on community resilience. The association invites new members and participants to join its ongoing actions to prevent fires, restore ecosystems and strengthen community resilience in Serra da Estrela.