MELRES
SIZE: 15.4 km²
POPULATION: 10,238
POP. DENSITY: 670.6 people/km²
URBAN CLASSIFICATION (people/km²)
HYPER URBAN AREA (≥15,000)
DENSE URBAN AREA (1,500-14,999)
URBAN CLUSTER (300-1,499)
RURAL SETTLEMENT (50-299)
SPARSE RURAL (10-49)
REMOTE (1-9)
WILDERNESS (<1)
*BASED ON DEGURBA (EU Degree of Urbanisation) DATA
*2021 PORTUGUESE CENSUS
KEY ISSUES
Climate Displacement
Land Degradation & Abandonment
Migration to Cities
Little Investment Oppertunities
INTRODUCTION VIDEO
MELRES e MEDAS GONDOMAR
Melres is one of many small-town settlements scattered across the Portuguese rural landscape. It lies within the municipality of Gondomar, at the river border between the larger Porto and Aveiro districts. The Douro River is the largest on the Iberian Peninsula and runs from central Spain directly through the historic center of Porto at its mouth. As with many settlements, Melres was originally built along the Douro river for trade and commerce, especially with Porto.
Today its primary employment sectors vary between small-scale jewelers, construction & light industry, and agriculture in outlying areas.(Gabinete de Estrategeia e Estudos, 2023) In addition, there is a strong tourist presence supported by several bar/restaurants and artisan craft stores as well as small tie-ins to the network of technology and research centers that has positioned Porto as one of Europe’s main start-up hubs. (EURopean Employment Services, 2025)
The area around Melres is geographically diverse, with forested hills sloping steeply up from the river edges. It encompasses several unique but interconnected ecosystems which are unfortunately at great risk due to wildfires, which has a direct correlation to the Eucalyptus Globulus Tree.
WILDFIRE
SUSCEPTIBILITY
PRECIEVED
SUSEPTIBILITY
-Low - Medium 3-12%
-High 28%
-Extreme 52%
There is a significant overlap between these non-native species and wildfire hotspots, suggesting the need for further investigation of these areas.
TREE
COVER
-Other Native Species
-Pinus Pinaster
(Pine)
-Eucalyptus
Globulus
*EUROPEAN SOIL DATA CENTRE (ESDAC)
Eucalyptus was originally introduced to Portugal as a decorative plant by the British in the early 1700s. It was later found that a specific variety of Eucalyptus (Eucalytpus Globulus) was an excellent resource for paper manufacturing with huge profits. This led to a wave of investment and plantation development, especially as it was mistakenly believed to be a workable construction material. Despite its infectious aroma, the leaves, bark, and even the oils of this plant are all highly flammable, acting as matchsticks in the event of a fire.
In Portugal, wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem and play a role in maintaining forest health. However, human intervention has drastically altered the landscape as non-native species have been steadily introduced over the past several hundred years. There is a common overlap between these non-native species and wildfire hotspots, plant species such as Eucalyptus and Pine have the most damaging effects as they absorb excess amounts of nutrients and water from the soil and shed highly flammable debris.
Many eucalyptus plantations are left abandoned, creating vast stretches of unmanaged eucalyptus forests that act as fuel for devastating fires and pose a serious threat to Portugal’s environment and communities.
EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS
Native to Southeast Australia
Tasmanian Blue Gum
40% of Portugal's land area is forest
- The paper industry owns 20%
- The government owns 2%
- Over 400,000 individual landowners own the rest
- The paper industry provides 1% of Portugal's GDP
- 5% of all exports
- 3,000 rural jobs
The Eucalyptus forests surrounding Melres suffered immensely in 2025 following a wildfire that tore through 1,550 hectares, destroying crops, several homes and forcing emergency evacuations. These fires do not just affect forests; they affect human lives, health, air quality, infrastructure, and erosion. This has become an annual occurrence for rural Portugal as summer temperatures are increasingly on the rise, leading to extended fire seasons.
cycle diagram thing
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