Assessment cases
Arboretum High School of Barcelos
Lighthouse: Urban Rural
Localization in Barcelos

NBS short description

The Barcelos Arboretum is a botanic garden part of the green 
spaces of the Barcelos Secondary School. It was planted in the autumn/winter of 1986/1987 and includes woody plants 
restricted to the flora of Portugal mainland. It is organized 
according to phyto-geographical criteria of the natural forest 
of mainland Portugal (and not by taxonomic criteria) based on 
the existence of 5 poles of ecological differentiation, namely: 
Atlantic, Oro-Atlantic, Thermo-Atlantic, Iberian and Eu-Mediterranean. The arboretum has a didactic objective, such as 
supporting basic and secondary education in the municipality, 
as a permanent incentive to defend the natural environment; 
and promoting knowledge of Portuguese autochthonous flora. In one hectare we have 250 different native taxa, including some rarer bulbous plants and larger ferns, totaling 1650 individuals, among trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs.

Challenges raised during the preparatory meetings

Maintenance
Funding
Opening to the community
Promotion

Who owns the land?

Mostly public land

Related projects with synergies

Project “Adopt a plant from the Arboretum”
ERAMUS programexchanges
European Researcher’s Night

Geographic area

The Municipality of Barcelos had, in 2021, a population of 
116.766, a density of 308 hab/km2 where 24,5% of its population is below 24 years old, and 20% is over 65. The assessment case is located inside the high school of Barcelos. 
Predominantly in urban area.

Local partners, associations, initiatives and champions engaged

Local Schools and teaching community 
of the involved schools
Youth associations/groups 
Local municipalities (Barcelos)
Local cultural and environmental associations

Relevance for the lighthouse

The Arburetum de Barcelos is a live and interactive knowledge 
platform that privileges research, investigation and knowledge, 
open to the local community and other local schools, as a focal 
point to environmental and science knowledge sharing. 
The project will be particularly relevant for the lighthouse from the perspective of people’s interaction with a wide variety of existing species, in the heart of the City of Barcelos, and a source of inspiration for new SBN.

Governance of the case

Barcelos High School