the cork oak grove stopped the 2017 fire, and the community drew its conclusions
On 17 June 2017, the wildfire climbing from Pedrógão Grande reached Ferraria de São João. What stopped the flames at the village's door was the centuries-old cork oak grove: over a hundred trees that held, two of them burned, but they didn't let the fire through. The village survived because of the right trees in the right place.
The community drew its conclusions. After the fire, without waiting for public authorities, they created a natural protection zone around the village: they cut down eucalyptus, planted more cork oaks, cleared land. Everything decided and carried out locally, based on what one observer called the "wisdom of the community." The "Ferraria, Aldeia Viva" project run by the Residents' Association gained national recognition, and the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) has placed it on the pre-list of the world's best tourism villages.
The predominant building material is quartzite (not slate), because the village sits on a quartzite ridge at the southern tip of the Serra da Lousã. It has around 40 residents, a threshing floor with limestone slabs, and one of the largest collections of communal livestock pens in the country.
good to know
- village saved by centuries-old cork oaks during the great fire of 17 june 2017
- after the fire, the community cut down eucalyptus and planted more cork oaks around the village (local forest defence model)
- "ferraria, aldeia viva" project by the residents' association; pre-listed as one of the unwto's best tourism villages
- predominant building material is quartzite, on a ridge at the southern tip of the serra da lousã
