REACTION

VI. PROJECT ASSESSMENT
VI.1. LANDSCAPE & ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
1. Proportion of uses at regional scale (%)
Agricultural:		45
Forestry:		14
Urban & Unproductive:		11
Others	Uncultivated, marsh land, water lines	30
Name of the reference region/province/county:
Vila Real de Santo António County

2. Which ecosystems/habitats once occurred and now occur in the project area?

	Before the project		Present
	% of project area	Main species	% of project area	Main species
Mixed Mediterranean evergreen woodland forest
Mediterranean shrublands (macchia, matorral, garrigue, phrygana,...)
Evergreen oak woodland
Deciduous forest
Pine forest			100	Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea
Other conifer forest
Savannah-type ecosystem (e.g., dehesa)
Steppes
Permanent grassland, prairie
Annual grassland
Riparian ecosystem
Orchards, tree crops, etc.
Annual winter crops
Annual summer crops
Bare land (fallows)
Dune plant formation	100	Unknown

Please indicate the reference date (e.g., at the Vtime of project implementation; 25, 50, etc. years before project implementation; etc.):

at the time of project implementation

3. In the project area, are there any abandoned agricultural terraces?
No
a) Date of abandonment of most of them -year(s) or decade(s):

b) Are they narrow (limiting agricultural mechanisation)?
No
c) What is their current degree of conservation?
	-	Good
	-	Medium
	-	Poor
d) Have they been repaired within the framework of the project?
No

4. Are there protected areas in the project area:
Yes
a) Describe relevant legislation (if any) related to species or habitat protection (add reference dates):
Ministerial Council Resolution n.º 66/2001 - Rede Natura 2000
b) Natura 2000 and other protected habitats:
Yes: Ria Formosa / Castro Marim
c) Are there protected ecological corridors ?
Yes
Date:
d) Is there a protected area network ?
Yes
Date:

5. Landscape pattern: (Please, provide maps if possible and indicate it in section I.2.3.)

	Yes	No	Partly	Description
a) Is the project area connected to other similar ecosystem/habitat(s) in the surrounding area?	-		-	Project area is surrounded by urban areas to the North, East and West, and by the ocean to the South
b) Are project habitats fragmented into a number of patches?		-	-	Fire breaks and trails create small patches. National road and Monte Gordo village separate the project in three bigger patches
c) Habitat patches within the project area are close enough to allow free interchange of species?	-	-		Patches are close to each other, but the Western and Southern areas of the project are separated by national road and housing. In addition, the project perimeter is fenced in three patches, with few openings
d) Is there a natural gradation between habitats within the project area?	-		-
e) Are project edges natural?	-	-		Project edges to the North, West and East are social areas


6. Are there negative visual impacts?
a) Resulting from project implementation (e.g., terracing or subsoiling impacts):
No
Description:
b) Resulting from project maintenance works
No
Description:
c) Resulting from exploitation works
No
Description:
d) Resulting from other works
Yes
Description:	Scattered fallen logs; Litter accumulation

7. Flooding assessment at landscape/catchment scale

Before the project

Since project implementation

Reference period:	n/a

Reference period:	n/a

a) Flood frequency

Nil

Once every 1-10 years

Once every 10-20 years

Once every 20-50 years

Once every > 50 years

b) Date of last recorded flood event (year(s))

Unknown

c) Comments on damages from last recorded flood event

Unknown

8. Erosion assessment at landscape/catchment scale

Before the project

Since project implementation

Reference period:	n/a

Reference period:	n/a

a) Erosion/sedimentation rate
(Mg ha-1 year-1)

Unknown

b) Method of assessment
(USLE estimation, lake/reservoir/dam sedimentation, measurements at plot/catchment scale, etc.)

Unknown

REACTION: This research is supported by the "Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development" programme, under contract EVK2-2002-80025

VI. PROJECT ASSESSMENT