Cambarinho Botanical Reserve

The Cambarinho Botanical Reserve is a protected area on the northern slopes of the Serra do Caramulo, in the municipality of Vouzela, Portugal. It was set up by Decree 364/71 of 25 August 1971 to protect a stand of Rhododendron ponticum subsp. baeticum, which is known locally as loendro and elsewhere as adelfeira. A Vouzela walking-trail leaflet calls it the first national botanical reserve in Portugal.

The reserve is a Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation (site code PTCON0016) and lies entirely inside the Vouga-Caramulo Local Natural Park. It burned completely in the wildfires of 2017 and again in July 2026.

Geography

The reserve is in the parishes of Campia (15.5 ha) and Cambra e Carvalhal de Vermilhas (8.4 ha), and covers part of the valley of the Cambarinho stream. The plant grows naturally along tributaries of the Alfusqueiro River, where the moisture and soil suit it.

The loendro

Rhododendron ponticum subsp. baeticum is a shrub that grows two to four metres tall, usually in sheltered valleys close to small streams. It belongs to the heath family, Ericaceae, and has large violet flowers. The local name loendro is also used in Portugal for oleander, an unrelated plant.

The plant is considered a survivor of the flora of the Tertiary period that died out in most places during the ice ages. In Portugal it was first recorded in 1799 in the Serra da Fóia, Monchique. In 1884 the botanist Júlio Henriques of the University of Coimbra found it along the Alfusqueiro during an expedition to the Serra do Caramulo. Smaller populations exist in Monchique, Odemira, and the Sierras del Aljibe in Cádiz, Spain.

The plant is poisonous, and livestock used to die after eating its leaves. Attempts to transplant it have failed because it is very delicate.

Habitats

The ICNF management plan lists five protected habitat types:

The plan rates all three main target habitats as being in poor or inadequate condition and still declining. The only fauna species of note it lists is the marbled newt.

Threats

Before 2017, maritime pine dominated the reserve and the land around it, which the ICNF says may have helped the fire spread. Since the fire, regrowth of eucalyptus in the western part of the reserve, about 13 percent of its area, competes with the native habitats for water and nutrients and raises the fire risk. The plan also warns that heavy scrub clearing and tree thinning for fire prevention can damage the rhododendron and oak habitats.

Fires

2017

A wildfire in 2017 burned the whole reserve. The habitats then started to recover.

2026

On 2 July 2026, a fire started at 03:04 in Tourelhe, in Vouzela. It burned more than 15,000 hectares in the municipalities of Vouzela, Tondela, Oliveira de Frades, and Águeda before it was declared under control on 5 July. All 24 hectares of the reserve burned, and the wooden walkways along the stream were destroyed. The nature magazine Wilder reported that the Liga para a Protecção da Natureza (LPN) and the Portuguese Botanical Society called for action after the reserve burned for the second time in under ten years. Vouzela's mayor, Carlos Oliveira, said the municipality would act to recover as much of the reserve as possible.

Visiting

The rhododendrons flower from mid-April to early June. In 2006, RTP reported that about 2,000 people had booked guided visits the year before, not counting the many visitors who came on their own. A walking trail of a little over 2 km follows the Cambarinho stream.

See also

• Serra do Caramulo
• Rhododendron ponticum
• Protected areas of Portugal
• Natura 2000