Sado Estuary Nature Reserve

The Sado Estuary Nature Reserve is a protected wetland of 23,160 hectares at the mouth of the Sado, created on 1 October 1980, in the municipalities of Setúbal, Palmela, Alcácer do Sal and Grândola. The estuary shelters the only resident community of bottlenose dolphins in Portuguese waters, of about 30 animals.

The reserve is a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance.

Nature in the Sado Estuary

Bottlenose dolphins: a resident community of about 30 bottlenose dolphins lives in the estuary and the nearby sea.
Birds: more than 200 bird species have been recorded, including flamingos, avocets, black-winged stilts and marsh harriers.
Habitats: salt marshes, mudflats, salt pans, rice fields and pine woods, with the dunes of Tróia on the southern side.
Tróia Dunes Botanical Reserve: a botanical reserve on the Tróia dunes, defined at the same time as the nature reserve.

Places in the Sado Estuary

Mourisca Tide Mill: a restored tide mill at Herdade da Mourisca, near Faralhão, with an education centre about salt and a salt boat of 1944.
Carrasqueira pier: a pier on wooden stilts that runs for hundreds of metres over the mudflats near Comporta, used by local fishermen.

History of the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve

1 October 1980: Decree-Law 430/80 creates the reserve, to protect the estuary from pollution and damage to its plants and animals.

Visiting the Sado Estuary

Dolphin watching: boat trips to watch the dolphins leave from Setúbal.
Birdwatching: the salt marshes and salt pans are best for birds in autumn and winter, when migrating species rest in the estuary.
Management: the reserve is managed by the ICNF, the Portuguese institute for nature conservation and forests.