Extreme drought is a condition Portugal has been increasingly facing and will undoubtedly be one of the most significant challenges shaping our future. Sectors such as agriculture and tourism are badly harmed by the lack of water, but natural ecosystems also feel this scarcity with great intensity.
We understand just how grave this problem is when areas that remain naturally humid even in the summer season, such as the Bio-Reserve Senhora da Alegria, see their water points dry up through evaporation. In the video below, compiled from camera trap footage, we can witness the unprecedented event of the drying of the first pond built here since the Bio-Reserve was established in 2019.
The various animals that depend on ponds, lakes and streams now face an added difficulty in accessing the most essential resource. Waiting for a rainier autumn, they will have to adapt to these extreme conditions and survive in an increasingly arid climate.
