The Field Station is a living laboratory, currently used to support undergraduate field courses, MSc thesis and PhD. thesis of national and foreign students. There are also several environmental education programs, and the cE3c opens the Field Station to all interested persons during the “Biology during the Summer” activities. The “Ecoteca” has also been used for teaching technical courses, and as the base for a network of self-guided nature trails that run across the Field Station. Cork-oak woodlands provide aesthetical landscapes and the HRA provides some good lookout points over the Grândola Hills.
All these activities are accompanied by a growing interest in ecotourism, nature observation and hiking, and are dependent on the maintenance of vast extensions of correctly managed cork-oak woodland, which is also one of the best ways to conserve the biodiversity of this region.
