Tejo’s estuary is a natural reserve of the Country. Located in Alcochete, it presents 325 Km2 of an enormous biodiversity and is also the biggest sanctuary of wild aquatic birds.

In Alcochete we have also the rice-paddies located mostly in Barroca D’Alva, between the mounting and the cattle. The rice-paddies are one of the most interesting systems of nature’s conservation as well as all the natural patrimony of Alcochete’s council is intimately connected with the great forestall stain of cork-oaks – 1/3 of the council – that extend to the south of Portugal and goes until the central nucleus of the Iberic Peninsula.

All this biodiversity wouldn’t be complete and would be much more poorer if we did not talk of the salt marshes still existing in Alcochete and the fight cattle, the bulls, both ex-libris of this region.


COMPANHIA DAS LEZÍRIAS
http://www.cl.pt

Founded in 1836 – more than 40.000 hectares of land, had pioneer initiatives in the domain of agricultural and forest exploitation, establishing new cultures and developing new cultivation technologies that permitted to develop the region of Tejo and Sado, from Golegã to the Comporta de Alcácer do Sal.

With a vineyard of about 120 hectares, having obtained, with its products (Catapereiro – Selected Crop, Companhia das Lezírias – Ribatejo DOC, Catapereiro – Regional Wine from Ribatejo, Senhora de Alcamé – Table Wine and Senhora Companhia – Liquorish Wine), several awards in unique national and international competitions.

About 4.000 heads of cattle, meant to the butcher (annual sale of more than 1.000 heads of cattle). Related to the cattle production is the forestall area – 1000 hectares of permanent pastures and 500 hectares of oats.
Actually, the pine-wood and the oaks (6.500 hectares), are what builds it’s forest wealth.
One of the largest hunting areas of the country with an extension of 9.600 hectares.
The Equestrian Centre, entirely devoted to the horse. It includes the stud farm, with a selected breed of the Lusitanian and Portuguese crossed races (about 150 horses – 40 mares that assure the race’s continuity.

In the last ten years, Companhia das Lezírias has organised top equestrian events of several disciplines like Eventing, Endurance, Driving, Dressage, Jumping.


BARROCA D'ALVA
http://www.barrocadalva.com

Herdade da Barroca d’Alva, property of José Samuel Lupi’s family since early XIX century, is located a 30 minutes from Lisbon in Tejo’s estuary river-side. In its 1.800 ha of mounting, in the rice and corn paddies, one can find herds of fight cattle as well as the stud farm of Fero Rio-Frio, with 22 Lusitanian mares as well as the respective lineage of colts of 1, 2 and 3 years.

The breeding of bulls and bull fight horses are the bigger vocation of Barroca d’Alva, what explains The career of José Samuel Lupi as a tauromachian rider.

The Hippic Centre of Barroca D’Alva organizes several national and international competitions of several equestrian disciplines such as Jumping, Endurance, Eventing etc. having organised in 2004 the European Championship of Eventing for young Riders as well as a qualificative competition for the World’s Cup in that same year. These events count with the relevant equestrian Know-how of José Samuel Lupi as much as the ideal land conditions that Barroca D’Alva presents.

At this moment this Hippic Centre is one of the most emblematic European circuits of Eventing, – every year in the month of March and during 15 days, Barroca D’Alva organizes this competition. The Hippic Centre has Endurance tracks with an extension of more than 40 km and an Eventing track with 550mts with 30 steady obstacles;
The hotel has 22 standard rooms and 5 superior rooms, all of them equipped with AC, TV, telephone. This hotel will serve the officials that come for the event.