Ria Formosa Natural Park- Algarve, Portugal

There are many wild and interesting places to visit in the Algarve, but this is my favourite nature reserve in the region.

Although Parque Natural da Ria Formosa Centre is not signed from any direction and is difficult and frustrating to find, this important wildlife site (it is designated under the RAMSAR convention as a wetlands reserve of worldwide signficance) is very well worth a visit. It took us four attempts on separate visits to the Algarve to finally find it, and as we were travelling from the mid-Algarve by car, our wandering cannot be described as an environmentally-friendly activity, but it was worth the effort.

The Ria Formosa lagoon, located in the Algarve, in southern Portugal, is a system of barrier islands that communicates with the sea through six inlets. Five of these inlets are natural and have mobility characteristics. The sixth is an artificial inlet that was opened with the purpose of allowing easier access to the port of Faro, the capital of the Algarve.

Presently the main inlet of the system is the Faro-Olhão inlet, which was artificially opened. The process started in 1927 but only in 1952 were the engineering works completed and it assumed the present configuration.

Within the Ria Formosa system, different and sometimes antagonistic uses may be found. Part of the system is a Natural Park but Ria Formosa also plays an important role in the region's economy. Beyond the tourist use the system also supports other economic activities like seafood farms (including grooved carpet shell harvesting) and the port of Faro.

The Ria Formosa is also a designated Natural Park of over 170 km² and a stopping place for hundreds of different birds during the spring and autumn migratory periods.

It is also a reserve for various animal and plant species which can be  watched
in birdwatching programmes

The most important cities near the Ria Formosa are Tavira, Faro and Olhão.

There are also some towns in this area, whose names are: Fuzeta (which belongs to the municipality of Olhão), Santa Luzia, Cabanas de Tavira (these last two belonging to Tavira) and Cacela Velha (which belongs to Vila Real de Santo António).

Several buses run from Tavira to Cabanas and back each weekday, but there are no buses on Saturday afternoons nor all day Sundays and Holidays, even in summer. The nearest train station is in nearby Conceição which is on the Tavira to Vila Real line. That's about 1 mile /1.6km and an easy walk. 

Classified as a Natural Park in 1987, the Ria Formosa encompasses an area of about 18 000 hectares, and is protected from the sea by 5 barrier-islands and 2 peninsulas: the Peninsula of Ancão that the locals call island of Faro, the Barreta Island also known as Ilha Deserta, the Culatra Island (where the lighthouse of Santa Maria is located), the Island of Armona, the Island of Tavira, Cabanas Island and, finally, the Peninsula of Cacela. This awesome area extends along the leeward coast of the Algarve through the municipalities of Loulé, Faro, Olhão, Tavira and Vila Real de Santo António. 

Commercial activities like salt extraction and shellfish farming are quite important for the local populations. For instance the Ria Formosa is responsible for approximately 60% of the total of shellfish produced in the country.

Shellfish of every kind are found in Ria Formosa and a festival is held in Faro every year in summer

Sources.

• Wikipedia
• Algarve Wildlife
• MERAVISTA
• Ciência Hoje
• quintadara