Eucalyptus Plantation by Harry Sumner

Eucalyptus Plantation

This is a field recording album to document the absence of wildlife to be heard in a Portuguese eucalyptus plantation.. All of the tracks were recorded on 03/13/2025.

I started recording sounds halfway up the mountain, surrounded by the eucalyptus plantation covering the Serra de Santa Luzia in Portugal's Viana do Castelo district.

I descended the mountain and finished in the Village of Afife. The track listing of the album follows my journey. Tracks 1-5 were recorded in the plantation and Tracks 6-10 in the village of Afife as I descended to sea level.

The eucalyptus stops native trees from growing, degrades the soil, and creates an inhospitable environment for the local wildlife. It is a sad situation when the town has more wildlife than the tree-covered mountains, but this is the reality of a Portuguese eucalyptus plantation.

What are we doing to our land? What are we doing to ourselves? What example are we setting for the children? I thought we were supposed to live in harmony with nature and protect its beauty. Instead, we are destroying it. This pattern must stop now and I call on all sound recordists to join me in my work of environmental liberation and protection. It is time to make a stand!

Eucalyptus may be useful, but they do not inspire the soul like the oak tree. They do not create a paradise like this area used to be. Please read on for some information I have gathered on the subject. Also, download the album to read a PDF that explains the global problem in more detail.

Eucalyptus in Portugal

Portugal has the largest monoculture plantation of eucalyptus in Europe: more than 800,000 hectares covering a quarter of Portugal’s forest area. Portugal is the country with the largest area of eucalyptus in Europe and ranks 5th worldwide.

These plantations are nationally known for not providing much habitat for native biodiversity or valuable ecosystem services. For example, eucalyptus increases the risk and intensity of wildfires and do not allow for other vegetation to grow on the ground below them.

Furthermore, since the Portuguese native fauna & flora did not evolve alongside this allochthonous tree genus from Australia, it is not naturally adapted to eucalyptus monocultures - most animals do not feed on this plant and the allelochemicals it produces can inhibit the growth of other plants.

Finally, please download this album for more photographs and texts on this subject. Including the Dub Logos invocation.

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