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| Ria
formosa algarve |
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| Ria
formosa |
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| Ria
formosa park |
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| Ria
formosa park |
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The
dunes, the sand banks, the canals and the marshes
run along the undefined line of the horizon, guaranteeing
the Formosa Estuary in the Algarve its role as one
of the most important points in the network of wetlands
that links Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
Text provided by the Portuguese
Tourist Office (with minimal corrections)
A wintering ground for many migratory birds. The Estuary
has an enormous variety of natural habitats and biotopes
that provide refuge, feeding or breeding areas for
an infinite number of live organisms, from zooplankton
to fish, crustaceans, amphibians, reptiles and eventually
mammals, such as the otter, all depending on the preservation
of the Estuary for their survival.
The beaches of the isles of Faro, Barreta, Culatra,
Armona and Tavira form a natural barrier to the Ocean.
Behind are the vast expanses of dunes and after those
a labyrinth of lagoons and small sand isles, mud flats
and canals. At low tide other salty habitats are uncovered,
because the sea penetrates right up to land, forming
marches and salt marshes. With such physical diversity,
it is not surprising that the Formosa Estuary attracts
such a variety of life forms, that were able to adapt
their needs to the food resources available and to
the various degrees of salinity. Among these varieties
are the common caiman or the sultan chicken, simultaneously
one of the most representative and most endangered
inhabitants of this area. Chosen as the symbol of
the Formosa Estuary Natural Park, the sultan chicken
is a large bird with bluish feathers and bright red
feet and beak. It is very rare and it is estimated
that the population does not exceed twenty individual
birds.
Among the most characteristic species are the common
caiman. Other birds such as the dwarf sea swallow,
the grey plover, the tailor bird, the waders, the
common hawthorn, the straight beaked kingfisher, ducks,
water cocks and some birds of prey such as the hunting
kestrel also visit this protected zone. More that
50 species of fish, little known crustaceans (Monte
Gordo shrimp, estuary shrimp, moorish crab), bivalve
molluscs (good, white and pointed cockles, mussels
and other shellfish); amphibians (common toad and
frog), reptiles (woodland lizard, water snakes, snake
mouse and chameleon) contribute to the important fauna
in this Park. The
flora varies from the sandy zones (armenias, sea thistles,
sand cactuses) to the marches where the existence
of some species depends on their resistance to submersion
by seawater. Of this immense variety, the Algarve
limonium, which constitutes a local endemic species,
is particularly important. Phoenicians,
Romans, Arabs and Christians developed the land, leaving
remains that can still be seen. Fuzeta, an ancient
village that lived on tuna fishing, the crossroads
of the Olhão streets with their moorish terraces,
the 37 churches of Tavira and the old Arab principality
that gave rise to Faro, are good examples of this.
The Natural Park is also responsible for preserving
this cultural heritage and this has accounted for
the recovery of the tide mill at Marim, a traditional
tuna fishing boat and some Roman salting tanks.
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