| Monsanto Park Parque de Monsanto | |
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| Type | Forest park |
| Location | Monsanto Hills in Lisbon, Portugal |
| Area | 2,500 acres (10 km2) |
| Created | 1934 |
| Owned by | Lisbon Municipality |
| Operated by | Câmara Municipal de Lisboa (Lisbon Municipal Council) |
Monsanto Forest Park (Portuguese: Parque Florestal de Monsanto) is a municipal protected forest in Lisbon, Portugal, the largest green patch in the city, with almost 1000 ha (10 km2).[citation needed] It offers a well diversified tree-covered area to the Portuguese capital.
Many species were introduced in the Monsanto Hills (Serra de Monsanto) during the reforesting period. Due to climate and geological characteristics, they created a very interesting ecosystems in the urban patch of Lisbon (and surrounding municipalities). The Ecological Park of Lisbon, located at Monsanto Forest Park, is a meeting point for a new contact with the environment, right in the heart of the Portuguese capital. Its main purpose is to make visitors aware of the many variables of the environment, for instance, geology, climate, flora, and fauna.
The Ecological Park, residing inside the Forest Park, has a perimeter of four kilometres, and a total area of fifty hectares, of which sixteen is fenced and thirty four is non-fenced. It spreads over Serra de Monsanto, from Alto da Serafina to the Woods of S. Domingos de Benfica, passes the farm of Marquis de Fronteira and the Lead Shooting Club of Portugal. The Ecological Park runs an Interpretation Centre, with an auditorium, a space for permanent and occasional exhibitions, and a Centre of Multimedia Resources. Quercus, the largest Portuguese non-profit national environment organization for the conservation of the natural environment, is based in Monsanto Park.
