Good practice Imported

Green Heart of Cork: PES in the Portuguese montado

Portugal · Coruche · See the Portugal profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 2% 87/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2011, companies reward cork-oak landowners in Coruche/Chamusca/Ponte de Sor for FSC-certified good management that protects the Tejo-Sado aquifer and montado biodiversity.

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: ANP|WWF Portugal & Associação de Produtores Florestais de Coruche (APFC)
Region (NUTS): PT18
Keywords: Mediterranean agroforestry (montado / cork oak), Payments for ecosystem services

Context

Since 2011 the Green Heart of Cork initiative has rewarded cork-oak (montado) landowners in Coruche, Chamusca and Ponte de Sor, Portugal, when companies pay for FSC-certified good management that protects the Tejo-Sado aquifer and montado biodiversity.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE evaluation — accessed 2026-06-19
ANP|WWF — Green Heart of Cork — accessed 2026-06-19
AMNC — 10 years of Green Heart of Cork — accessed 2026-06-19

Quality score: 87/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported

Top 2% in this catalogue (642 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Carbon — sequestration / storage, evidenced2/3

Cork oak stores carbon, but sequestration is not the scheme's quantified metric.

Biodiversity — conservation / improvement, evidenced3/3

Explicit High Conservation Value area (~1,257 ha) and montado biodiversity are core objectives.

Water & soil — retention, infiltration, erosion control3/3

Protecting the Tejo-Sado aquifer is the central rewarded service.

Fire resilience — risk reduction, evidenced2/3

Actively managed montado lowers fire risk, though this is not an explicit payment metric.

Governance, certification & transferability3/3

FSC-verified, WWF+APFC governance with recurring corporate buyers since 2011.

Cite this

Evidoria. Green Heart of Cork: PES in the Portuguese montado. Persistent ID: 2185f887-e964-4562-80de-19b18d28670f.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

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