IFSA 2020 Conference
Field tripsConference participants are welcome to join a full day field trip and explore local farming systems surrounding Évora. Visits are accompanied by local producers and technicians, but also by experts. We encourage participants to be well prepared with comfortable shoes and to dress warmly, as it can be rainy and cool this time of the year.
Each field trip will leave Évora in the morning by bus (38.574045, -7.903986) and return in the afternoon. Participants are asked to select their preferred field trip option while filling out their registration form.
Please bear in mind that field trip bookings will be done on a “first come, first served” basis.
Field trip A: WINE PRODUCTION
Wine production in Alentejo: contrasting farm systemsDuration: 9 hours Organizers/contact person: Maria João Cabrita, MED/UEvora, mjbc@uevora.pt Location: Reguengos de Monsaraz |
 Photo credit: Oeste/CIM |
Description:
This visit will be dedicated to wine in the wine production region of Reguengos de Monsaraz, in Central Alentejo (40 km East of Évora). Wine production has a long tradition in the region of Alentejo. Biophysical conditions are excellent for the sector, and in recent decades huge efforts have been made to select varieties and increase the quality of the wine. Today the region produces some of the best wines of Portugal. First we will visit a very large production unit, a family company with multiple productions and a sustainability agenda. Besides the vineyards, there are olive groves and extensive silvo-pastoral areas. The company produces wines and more recently olive oil, promotes wine tasting, associated with walking paths, landscape care and nature observation, etc. This is Esporão. We will walk in vineyards, hear about the story and strategy of the company, visit the winery and taste some wines. We will eat provided lunch in Esporão. One can buy wine, olive oil and other local products. In the afternoon, we will visit a much smaller, but also widely known, wine production farm, located in the same terroir. This is Ervideira winery, well known for innovative approaches in winemaking. They will receive us to show their production style and taste some wines.
At the end of the day, we visit (free visit for walking around in the streets) the village of Monsaraz, an old fortified small town, beautifully located on the top of a stone crop overlooking the plain and the artificial lake of Alqueva, the largest lake in Europe.
Program:
9:00 – Departure from Évora
9:45 -12h00 – Visit to Esporão farm and winery, with wine tasting (Reguengos de Monsaraz)
12:15-13h00 – Lunch bag in Esporão
13h15-13h45 – Short stop for coffee in the town of Reguengos de Monsaraz
14:00-15h30 – Visit to the Ervideira farm and winery with wine tasting (Reguengos de Monsaraz)
16:00-17h00 – Visit to the small town of Monsaraz
18h00 – Arrival in Évora
Field trip B: LIVESTOCK FARMING SYSTEM
Grazing Systems in Montado coping for centuries with changes
Organizers/contact persons: Elvira Sales-Baptista: elsaba@uevora.pt Maria Isabel Ferraz de Oliveira: mifo@uevora.pt Manuel Cancela Abreu: abreu@uevora.pt |
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Description:
Our visit will take us to contrasting meat livestock (sheep and cattle) production farms in the multifunctional Montado, a unique silvo-pastoral system, where animals are raised free-ranging all year round. These systems have low labour and capital inputs, and are frequently based on native pastures under a canopy of evergreen oaks. Regarding feed resources, the Montado main constraints are related to low soil fertility and rainfall variation that have a huge impact on pasture biomass and animal productivity. Innovative and traditional approaches to cope with uncertainty within this system will be discussed. The farms are located within 50 Km from Évora, in the heart of the Montado. We will walk small distances within the farm, so be prepared for hiking.
The visit will end at the village of Arraiolos, known by their hand-embroidered tapestry rugs since at least the 16th century. After a short talk and tasting of traditional local products in the Arraiolos Public Library, you will have the opportunity to visit the interpretive centre of the Arraiolos rugs, roam the narrow streets of the village and see the most noticeable structure in the village, the unusual circular castle on the small hill overlooking the countryside.
Program:
9:00 – Departure from Évora
10:00 -13:00 – Visit to Herdade da Lobeira – Lavre (beef cattle farm, with a holistic grazing system)
13:00 -14:00 – Lunch box at Herdade da Lobeira
15:00 -16:30 – Visit to Herdade do Sargacinho – Arraiolos (sheep farm, sustainable lamb production)
16:30-17:00 – Welcome to the village of Arraiolos. Tasting of traditional local products (empadas de Arraiolos, pasteis de toucinho, vinho)
17:00-17:45 – Visit to the village of Arraiolos – free roaming through the village
18:30 – Arrival in Évora
Field trip C: MONTADO
Montado – a High Nature Value Farming SystemDuration: 7 hours Organizers/contact persons: Ana Margarida Fonseca; anafonseca@uevora.pt; (+351) 964 417 987 António Mira; amira@uevora.pt; (+351) 966 271 051 Carla Pinto Cruz; ccruz@uevora.pt; (+351) 961 802 946 Location: North slope of the Serra de Monfurado, between Évora and Montemor-o-Novo |
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Description:
The field visit will take place at the “Serra de Monfurado” Natura 2000 site, one of the areas with the highest cover of Portuguese Montado in southern Portugal. The area is dominated by smooth ondulated hills that despite their low altitude (maximum 424m) intercept west winds from the coast creating a wetter and colder microclimate. Thus, in some places, species typical from the Mediterranean and Atlantic biogeographic regions can be found side by side contributing to the occurrence of an unusually rich biodiversity.
These are the conditions shaping the vegetation and habitat’s diversity. The trees cork oak (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia) are the elements that stand out in the landscape. We can also observe some regional singularities such as the black oak (Quercus pyrenaica). The scrub communities are diverse and rich in typical Mediterranean species. This landscape is also enriched by several freshwater habitats like the stream sand the temporary ponds.
The “Serra de Monfurado” Natura 2000 site covers a surface area corresponding to 239 km2 and protects, since 1998, 21 species and 18 habitat types listed in the Habitats Directive, namely Mediterranean temporary ponds, Montados with evergreen Quercus spp. and caves. The site also holds important communities of mammal carnivores, including European otters, genets and Egyptian mongooses, and about fifteen bat species, many of which are endangered.
The Montado, despite the secular human intervention, is a multifunctional agroforestry system holding high levels of biodiversity and, until recently, was a key example of sustainable use of natural resources.
However, in the last decade, a general decline of this unique system, attributed to multiple causes like diseases, climate changes, overgrazing and misuse of soil, is occurring in many places. We will make a 12 kilometers walk through a Montado dominated Mediterranean landscape, crossed by well-preserved riparian areas. Natural and social values associated with this unique landscape and the management practices on which they depend, will be discussed throughout the visit.
Program:
8:30 – Departure from Évora
9:15 – Start at Ribeira do Carvalhal between the Montado silvopastoral system
12:30 – Lunch at midway
13:00 – Walk continues throughout the Montado system
15:30 – Arrival in Évora