Raízes do Parque Publication Launch

The world’s most beautiful and sustainable gardens always Harbour a significant variety of trees and shrubs, which play an importante combined role in the aesthetic valorisation of any landscape or urban park, as well as the vitality of the surrounding ecosystem. Trees and shrubs play an extremely important role for the environment and for human well-being. They are living beings that deliver various services: water to drink, air to breathe, and shade and food for people, animals and plants. They provide a habitat for countless species of fauna and flora, raw materials for the buildings that we inhabit, and are also places of enjoyment, culture and creativity. Trees are extremely important for the global environment and the health of other species and require our unconditional care and protection. Shrubs provide shade, improve soil stability and air quality, and create habitats for a wide variety of wildlife. Of course, shrubs and small trees can be simply observed and admired, especially varieties that bring colour and seasonality to the landscape. Serralves Park’s latest publication is dedicated to our indigenous trees and shrubs, giving expression and continuity to the Park’s mission to promote biodiversity, especially in educational and scientific terms. The book aims to introduce people to some of the species of the Park’s bountiful heritage, through beautiful individual illustrations of each species, including details of its morphology, accompanied by a brief description of its botanical identity and location in the Park. The reader is thereby challenged to discover the species and explore the associated knowledge. The book’s design and aesthetics sublimely interprets the beauty and harmony of a selection of native species from the flora of Portugal. This opportunity to discover more about the identity of the trees and shrubs will inspire us to care for and preserve this heritage.

Helena Freitas, Park Director