Globo Repórter shows the wonders and stories of the Serra da Arrábida in Portugal
Globo Reporter traveled to Portugal this Friday (24) to visit the Arrábida Natural Park, south of Lisbon, to reveal its wonders and explore all its corners. In the video above, discover the beauties of the park and the stories that connect the sea with the Portuguese in this place where they live so close to each other.
Located on the Portuguese coast between the towns of Setúbal and Sesimbra, the Arrábida Natural Park is characterized by its magnificent cliffs, which are coastal walls with a steep slope that form on the coast. (see pictures below)
One of the four cliffs of the Serra da Arrábida is made of limestone. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction The cliffs of the Serra da Arrábida are made of limestone. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction
The Arrábida Park is more than 100 km² in size and is covered by a dense Mediterranean forest with more than 1,400 plant species. The term Arrábida comes from the Arabic “AlRábita,” meaning “that which binds, occupies,” and is a legacy of more than 800 years of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.
Life in Arrábida also has lessons to offer: “I learned to live in the rhythm of nature, which is an important thing. Nowadays we are very stressed in our lives and are constantly racing against time,” comments naturalist and speleologist Francisco Rasteiro.
Wildlife on the cliffs 🦊🦅🦎
Discover the animals that make up the fauna of the Arrábida National Park
Fauna visits abound in the Serra do Risco, the highest limestone cliff on the European coast at 381 meters. From snakes to birds, from amphibians to insects, there are people who spend their lives recording every detail.
“There are many hours with binoculars observing the animals and studying the locations. We have to study the animals intensively, we work with scientists,” says Luís Quinta, wildlife documentary filmmaker and author of the documentary “Da Serra ao Mar” about the animals of Arrábida.
Quinta took three years to source the images for the documentary and says it required a lot of patience:
“It’s a lot of waiting. And there are other occasions when we are immediately confronted with exceptional behavior,” comments Luís Quinta.
This is when the red fox “enjoys” the view. (see picture below)
2 of 4 Red fox observes landscape on a cliff in the Serra da Arrábida in Portugal Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction Red fox observes landscape on a cliff in the Serra da Arrábida in Portugal Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction
Dinosaurs in Arrábida? 🦕
According to Francisco, the Cordillera da Arrábida was a swamp where humans lived about 120 million years ago. Iguanadontes, which reached heights of more than five meters and ate fruits and vegetables as well as other dinosaurs. Some Iguanodon footprints are still preserved in Arrábida.
But if it used to be a swamp, how come it is now 300 meters high on the cliff? As the tectonic plates of the African and European continents met, the limestone at the bottom of the ocean rose to form the Arrábida Mountains, explains Francisco
In a mountain range in Portugal there are footprints of Iguanodons, dinosaurs, that are up to 5 meters high
Wonderful caves that reveal the past
In Arrábida the caves have a different formation process than usual. Seawater seeped in through cracks in the rock, forming air pockets, and as the sea escaped, these remaining pockets began to fill with minerals, Francisco said.
3 of 4 The Arrábida Caves are formed by a different process in which seawater penetrates through cracks in the rock. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction The Arrábida caves are formed in a different process, when seawater penetrates through cracks in the rock. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction
According to a discovery by the University of Lisbon, fossil charcoal found in these caves shed light on Neanderthals. The groups inhabited the caves 100,000 years ago and already ate shellfish and fish.
Fossil charcoal shows that Neanderthals lived in the caves of Arrábida 100,000 years ago
In love with fish 🎣
Portugal has around 100,000 fishermen and is the third largest consumer of fish in the world after Japan and Iceland. The Portuguese eat an average of 60 kilos of fish per year.
There are people who love the sea so much that they have even found a way to take a little piece of it home with them. This is the case of Eduardo Pinto, Mestre Xixa as he is called.
4 out of 4 Master Xixa transformed his home with elements of the sea. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction Mestre Xixa transformed his home with elements of the sea. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction
“The sea is what I love. One day I know I will die, but I want to die at sea,” says 60yearold Xixa, who inherited his love of fishing from his father and has been a fisherman since he was 11.
Portuguese eat 60 kg of fish per year; The favorite sardine is disappearing from the Iberian Sea
Climatic influence on Arrábida
Like many other places in the world, life in the Arrábida Natural Park is not protected due to climate change. And anyone who lives a lot in the region can understand it.
“It rains very little, it used to rain 700 millimeters a year, now it rains about 150, 200.” [milímetros]says Francisco Rasteiro.
In addition to Arrábida, there is also a quarry that extends beyond the boundaries of the park and has enabled the boom in real estate construction in Portugal, especially in Sesimbra, with 52,000 inhabitants, which has more than doubled in size in recent decades.
According to experts, the effects of climate change are now visible in Arrábida