Ria Formosa Environmental Centre

Park

The Centro de Educacao Ambiental de Marim occupies the Quinta de Marim estate on the eastern outskirts of Olhao, serving as the headquarters and principal visitor facility for the Ria Formosa Natural Park. The park protects 18,400 hectares of coastal lagoon, salt marshes, tidal flats, barrier islands and dune systems that stretch for 60 kilometres along the Algarve's southern coast from Ancao to Manta Rota.

A network of trails winds through the quinta's 60-hectare grounds, passing through habitats that include pine woodland, freshwater ponds, salt pans, tidal creeks and regenerating dune vegetation. Interpretive boards identify the species most commonly seen: purple herons, spoonbills, flamingos, avocets, black-winged stilts and the rare purple gallinule, one of the rarest breeding birds in western Europe, which nests in the park's reedbeds.

The centre's buildings house exhibitions on the lagoon's ecology, traditional fishing methods, salt production and the tidal processes that constantly reshape the barrier islands. A Portuguese water dog breeding programme operates on site, maintaining the breed that fishermen historically used to retrieve nets and herd fish. A tide mill, still operational, demonstrates the technology that once powered grain production along this coast.

Ria Formosa is internationally recognised as a wetland of global importance under the Ramsar Convention, and birdwatchers visit throughout the year to observe both resident and migratory species. The autumn and spring migration periods bring the greatest diversity, with waders from Scandinavia and Africa using the lagoon as a refuelling stop on their journeys along the East Atlantic Flyway.