Monsanto Forest Park
Encyclopedia
Monsanto Forest Park is a protected forest
in Lisbon
, Portugal
, the largest green patch in the city, with almost 1000 ha
(10 km2). It offers a well diversified tree-covered area to the Portuguese capital.
A large number of species were introduced in Serra de Monsanto (Monsanto Hills) during the reforesting period. Owing to climate and geological characteristics these originated very interesting ecosystems implanted in the urban patch of Lisbon (and surrounding municipalities). The Ecological Park of Lisbon, located at Monsanto Forest Park, is a meeting point for a new contact with the environment, right in the heart of the Portuguese capital. Its main purpose is to make visitors sensitive to the many variables of the environment, for instance, geology, climate, flora, and fauna.
The Ecological Park, residing inside the Forest Park, has a perimeter of four kilometres, a total area of fifty hectares, being almost sixteen a fenced area and thirty four hectares non-fenced. It spreads over Serra de Monsanto, from Alto da Serafina to the Woods of S. Domingos de Benfica, passes the farm of Marquis de Fronteira and the Lead Shooting Club of Portugal. The Ecological Park runs an Interpretation Centre, with an Auditorium, a Space for permanent and occasional Exhibitions, and a Centre of Multimedia Resources. Quercus
, the largest Portuguese non-profit national environment organization for the conservation of the natural environment, is based in Monsanto Park.
Portuguese Grand Prix
.
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, the largest green patch in the city, with almost 1000 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
(10 km2). It offers a well diversified tree-covered area to the Portuguese capital.
A large number of species were introduced in Serra de Monsanto (Monsanto Hills) during the reforesting period. Owing to climate and geological characteristics these originated very interesting ecosystems implanted in the urban patch of Lisbon (and surrounding municipalities). The Ecological Park of Lisbon, located at Monsanto Forest Park, is a meeting point for a new contact with the environment, right in the heart of the Portuguese capital. Its main purpose is to make visitors sensitive to the many variables of the environment, for instance, geology, climate, flora, and fauna.
The Ecological Park, residing inside the Forest Park, has a perimeter of four kilometres, a total area of fifty hectares, being almost sixteen a fenced area and thirty four hectares non-fenced. It spreads over Serra de Monsanto, from Alto da Serafina to the Woods of S. Domingos de Benfica, passes the farm of Marquis de Fronteira and the Lead Shooting Club of Portugal. The Ecological Park runs an Interpretation Centre, with an Auditorium, a Space for permanent and occasional Exhibitions, and a Centre of Multimedia Resources. Quercus
Quercus (organization)
Quercus - Associação Nacional de Conservação da Natureza is a Portuguese environmental organization founded in 1985. The name Quercus is used because the Oak is one of the species that is characteristic from this country and that nowadays is more rare...
, the largest Portuguese non-profit national environment organization for the conservation of the natural environment, is based in Monsanto Park.
History
The intensive agricultural usage of the soils led to the erosion and practically to the destruction of the original vegetation. In the 1930s, the increasing demand for construction areas led Duarte Pacheco, a Portuguese Secretary of State for the Public Works, to recover an idea from 1868: the reforesting of the then practically bare Serra de Monsanto. The regulation for Monsanto Park occurs in 1934 and the works for replantation were carried out by farmers and prisoners from Monsanto Fort. It was the architect Keil do Amaral who presented the first global project for the park, including leisure and sports areas, some of them still existing. The Ecological Park has a privileged location at Monsanto Forest Park — the largest green patch in the city of Lisbon, with almost 1000 ha. The Monsanto Park Circuit, a 5.44 km (3.38 mi) race track, hosted the 1959 Formula OneFormula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
Portuguese Grand Prix
1959 Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monsanto on August 23, 1959. It was the eighth Portuguese Grand Prix and the second to be held for the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. It was the third time the race was held at Monsanto and the first for Formula One...
.
See also
- LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
- Monsanto Park Circuit