Forest Heritage

Welcome to Quinta da Serra and his mysterious forest treasure!

The history of Quinta da Serra dates from the first quarter of the 19th century. It was built by the English consul Henry Veitch. Currently there are several evidences of this time, the most visible example is the initial building we call "mother house". However, there are other less-known historical monuments, some of them probably existed at that location even before the construction of the mother house and that often go unnoticed when visiting Quinta. It is the forest heritage that includes, in addition to rare species of Laurel Forest, other species that have been introduced by man as it went installing this territory.

In 2008, the Regional Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, promoted through the Regional Directorate of Forests, a survey which resulted in a publication entitled "Monumental and Emblematic Trees of Madeira." In this book we find the most imposing and fascinating trees of Madeira. It is divided into several chapters, each corresponding to a different county. Of the 12 trees, identified in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, with the classification of Monumental and Emblematic, 8 belong to the Quinta da Serra. We assume that these trees are at least 200 years old (Domingues and others, 2008).

So, when you visit us you'll get to know these rare living monuments preserved by Man and bred by Nature.

Bibliography:

• Domingues MA, Barreto DO, Castro PN, Figueira PG 2008 and Emblematic of Monumental Trees Wood , Regional Directorate of Forestry.