Background The Serra da Estrela represents the highest point in mainland Portugal, with an altitude of 1991 m. The area enjoys a high degree of biological diversity caused by a combination of eco-factors including the proximity of the Atlantic ocean and the altitudinal gradient, as well as the geological and climate history related to human activity. The richest flora is to be found above 1 700 m, with a wide range of indigenous species, such as Festuca henriquessi and habitats including Nardus (6230) grasslands. Between 900 and 1 700 m there are degraded residues of Mediterranean Taxus baccata (9580) forests, Quercus rotundifolia (9340) forests and lowland hay meadows (6510). Lower slopes, up to 900 m, contain Galicio-Portuguese oak woods with Quercus robur and Quercus pyrenaica (9230), which in turn are home to a series of important species such as Centaurea herminii, C. micrantha, Festuca elegans, F. summilusitanica, Veronica micrantha and Narcissus asturiensis. Habitats and species are endangered by changes to traditional agro-silvo-pastoral practices, intense fires, tourism pressures, cutting and removal of riparian vegetation and changes to drainage systems. Objectives The project aimed to restore and conserve priority habitats, encouraging sustainable use by traditional practices. This would be achieved by: leasing land; undertaking controlled grazing; restoring habitats through plantation; selective cutting of vegetation; regeneration of drainage systems; management of tourist access to the most sensitive sites; and awareness among the local population. Results Overall the project has been considered a success. It suffered a number of difficulties linked to fires in the summer and snowstorms in the winter on the project site that badly affected the target habitats and these were further damaged by insensitive cattle grazing. Despite these set backs, important habitat restoration outputs were achieved including doubling the size of habitat 6230* (Nardus grasslands) and improving the conservation status of habitat 6510 (lowland hay meadows), which was not originally foreseen in the LIFE proposal. The reopening of traditional livestock paths (“canadas”) provided new access opportunities for sheep herds to the priority areas where traditional grazing patterns assist semi-natural management of the target species. These new shepherd’s trails have allowed sheep numbers to increase by 33% and a considerable amount of capacity building success has been achieved with local shepherds. Awareness has been raised among local shepherds on topics such as appropriate management techniques for Serra da Estrela habitats and the shepherds have been actively involved in the LIFE project activities. Ongoing participation is also anticipated with shepherds being given responsibility for managing the electric fences installed by the project. This helps provide employment support in disadvantaged rural areas and the LIFE project itself recruited a total of 62 persons for different paid activities during the project. These activities are predicted to promote appropriate pasture management and provide sustainable solutions to tackle habitat degradation concerns such as overgrazing and bushfires. Results and experience from the project helped inform new agri-environmental measures for the area, that were approved in 2005 and will help guarantee the longer term conservation status of target habitats in the project area. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).