Environmental Activism and Conservation

The Setubal district is home to some of Portugal’s most significant environmental campaigns and conservation organizations. From grassroots fisherwomen monitoring seagrass beds to European Union award-winning cooperatives, the region’s activism reflects a broader struggle to reconcile centuries of economic reliance on the sea and the land with the urgent need to protect its extraordinary biodiversity.

Overview

The natural heritage of the Setubal Peninsula – the Arrabida Natural Park, the Sado Estuary and the Professor Luiz Saldanha Marine Park – has attracted conservation efforts since the mid-twentieth century. What began as campaigns by individual scientists and poets has evolved into a web of cooperatives, non-governmental organizations, citizen-science networks and international designations. Today, the region holds Natura 2000 sites, a Ramsar wetland, an Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) and, since 2025, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Ocean Alive

Origins

Ocean Alive (Cooperativa para a Conservacao do Oceano) was founded in 2015 by marine biologist Raquel Gaspar and a small team of researchers, educators and fisherwomen from the Setubal district. It was the first Portuguese cooperative dedicated entirely to ocean conservation. Gaspar, who had studied seagrass ecosystems and their collapse along the Arrabida coast, recognized that scientific research alone could not reverse the decline – community engagement was essential.

Mission and methods

Ocean Alive operates on a model that links marine science, environmental education and local livelihoods. Its key areas of work include:

• Seagrass restoration: The cooperative has contributed to the recovery of more than 20 hectares of seagrass meadows (Zostera marina and Zostera noltii) in the Sado Estuary and along the Arrabida coast. Seagrass acts as a “blue carbon” sink, nursery habitat for juvenile fish and a stabilizer of seafloor sediments.
• Marine litter removal: Ocean Alive has coordinated the removal of over 25,000 tonnes of marine debris from estuarine and coastal areas.
• Community science: Fishermen and fisherwomen are trained as data collectors, documenting water quality, species sightings and habitat conditions.

Natura 2000 Award 2024

In 2024, Ocean Alive won the European Natura 2000 Award in the Marine Conservation category – the first Portuguese organization to receive this distinction. The European Commission recognized the cooperative’s integrated approach to conservation, its empowerment of fishing communities and its measurable impact on habitat restoration within the Natura 2000 network.

Guardias do Mar (Keepers of the Sea)

Background

The Guardias do Mar (Keepers of the Sea) programme, launched by Ocean Alive, transforms fisherwomen from the Sado Estuary into marine guides, awareness agents and seagrass monitors. The idea arose from a simple observation: women in shellfish-gathering communities spend hours in the estuary’s intertidal zones and possess intimate knowledge of its ecology – knowledge that is rarely valued or recorded.

How the programme works

Participants receive training in marine biology, environmental monitoring techniques and science communication. They then serve as ambassadors for their ecosystems, guiding visitors through the estuary, conducting monitoring surveys and participating in litter-collection campaigns.

The initiative’s flagship campaign, “Shellfishing WITHOUT Litter” (Apanha sem Lixo), tackled the problem of waste abandoned in the estuary by shellfish gatherers. In its first year, the campaign collected 21.5 tonnes of litter from the Sado mudflats and banks. The results earned Ocean Alive the Green Project Awards 2017 – a national prize recognizing outstanding sustainability projects in Portugal.

Social impact

Beyond ecology, the Guardias do Mar programme has had significant social effects. Many participating women gained their first formal employment contracts, improved their economic independence and became visible leaders in their communities. The programme has been cited by the European Commission and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science as a model for gender-inclusive ocean governance.

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

On 27 September 2025, at the 37th session of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) International Co-ordinating Council, UNESCO officially designated Arrabida as a Biosphere Reserve – the 13th in Portugal. The designation covers the municipalities of Setubal, Sesimbra and Palmela, encompassing both the terrestrial mountain range of Serra da Arrabida and the marine waters of the Luiz Saldanha Marine Park.

What the designation means

A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is a territory where conservation and sustainable development are intended to coexist. The Arrabida Biosphere Reserve is structured in three zones:

1. Core areas – strictly protected zones for biodiversity monitoring and scientific research
2. Buffer zones – areas where activities compatible with sound ecological practices are permitted (environmental education, ecotourism, limited fishing)
3. Transition areas – where local communities pursue sustainable economic activities (agriculture, artisanal fishing, tourism)

The classification commits the Portuguese government, the municipalities and local stakeholders to a long-term management plan that balances economic use with ecological integrity.

Luiz Saldanha Marine Park and conservation milestones

The Professor Luiz Saldanha Marine Park, established in 1998, was the first marine park on mainland Portugal. It stretches along 38 km of coastline and protects more than 2,000 marine species.

LIFE-BIOMARES project

The most ambitious restoration programme in the park’s history was LIFE-BIOMARES (2007–2013), co-financed by the European Union. Its objective was to reverse the catastrophic loss of seagrass beds: meadows of Zostera marina near Portinho da Arrabida had shrunk from 30 hectares in 1983 to just 0.006 hectares in 2006 – a loss of 99.98%. BIOMARES transplanted 5,276 seagrass sods across 7 hectares and pioneered the “adopt-a-seagrass” citizen-science approach, in which volunteers sponsored and monitored individual restoration plots.

Although transplant survival rates were low due to storms and fish grazing, the project demonstrated that natural seed-based recovery could succeed in undisturbed, fully protected zones. BIOMARES became a reference project for marine reserve management within the European Natura 2000 network.

Sado Estuary: conservation status

The Sado Estuary holds multiple overlapping conservation designations:

• Ramsar site since 1996 – recognizing the estuary as a wetland of international importance
• Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) – designated by the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force
• Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area for birds

The dolphins

The estuary is home to the only resident population of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Portugal. Recent surveys estimate the population at 25–27 individuals, reflecting a decline of approximately 30% over recent decades. Threats include water pollution, boat traffic, noise disturbance and declining fish stocks. The IMMA designation aims to focus conservation attention on the dolphins’ critical habitat, including calving and feeding areas within the estuary.

Liga para a Proteccao da Natureza (LPN)

History

The Liga para a Proteccao da Natureza (League for the Protection of Nature) was founded on 28 June 1948, making it the oldest environmental NGO in Portugal and one of the oldest in Europe. Among its early inspirations was the poet Sebastiao da Gama (1924–1952), whose lyrical writings about the Serra da Arrabida helped crystallize the sentiment that the mountain and its ecosystems deserved permanent protection.

The fight for Arrabida

LPN has been at the forefront of campaigns to protect the Arrabida region for over seven decades. Its efforts contributed to the creation of the Arrabida Natural Park in 1976, the establishment of the marine park in 1998 and the ongoing enforcement of environmental regulations.

The Secil quarry conflict

One of the longest-running environmental disputes in the Setubal district involves the Secil limestone quarries in the Arrabida massif. The Secil cement company (now part of the Semapa group) has extracted limestone from the northern slopes of Serra da Arrabida for over 100 years. Quarrying has altered the landscape, destroyed vegetation, generated dust and noise, and conflicted with the conservation objectives of the natural park.

LPN, together with the C7 coalition (an alliance of seven environmental and civic organizations), has repeatedly demanded that Secil present a binding deactivation plan with a clear timeline for ceasing quarrying operations and rehabilitating the affected land. The conflict remains unresolved: Secil argues that the quarries pre-date the park and provide essential employment, while conservationists maintain that continued extraction inside a protected area and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is incompatible with Portugal’s environmental commitments.

Citizen science

BioDiversity4All

The citizen-science platform BioDiversity4All (affiliated with iNaturalist) has become a significant tool for biodiversity documentation in the Setubal region. As of recent counts, participants have recorded over 7,000 observations of flora and fauna in the Arrabida–Sado area, contributed by more than 500 citizens. These observations feed into national and European biodiversity databases and help researchers track the distribution and abundance of species, including invasive ones.

BIOMARES adopt-a-seagrass

As part of the LIFE-BIOMARES project, the “adopt-a-seagrass” programme invited members of the public to sponsor individual restoration plots in the marine park and receive updates on their growth. The initiative raised awareness of the critical role seagrass meadows play in marine ecosystems and engaged thousands of participants in monitoring efforts.

Environmental education

Maletas da Sustentabilidade

The Maletas da Sustentabilidade (Sustainability Suitcases) is an educational programme developed for schools in the Setubal district. Each “suitcase” is a kit of activities, materials and games focused on a specific environmental theme – marine litter, biodiversity, water conservation, climate change. Teachers use the kits to integrate environmental topics into their curricula.

Eco-Schools

Several schools in the municipalities of Setubal, Sesimbra and Palmela participate in the Eco-Schools programme, an international initiative coordinated in Portugal by ABAE (Associacao Bandeira Azul da Europa). Eco-Schools follow a seven-step methodology to achieve environmental certification, which includes energy audits, waste reduction plans and biodiversity projects on school grounds.

Ocean Alive Camp

Ocean Alive runs an annual summer camp for young people in the Setubal region. Participants spend a week learning about marine biology, conducting field surveys in the estuary and along the coast, and developing their own conservation projects. The camp aims to foster the next generation of environmental stewards in the region.

Timeline

See also

• Arrabida Natural Park
• Sado Estuary
• Professor Luiz Saldanha Marine Park