Happening in Ermo das Águias

The Swiss artist Gaspard Combes, with the contribution of Rui Marques (Rewilding Portugal), developed in Ermo das Águias rewilding area, his work, "Homo Stabilis". This work pays tribute to the strong connection that the municipality of Pinhel has with this natural and resistant material that is granite, through the representation of these three human figures.

The Swiss artist Gaspard Combes, with the contribution of Rui Marques (Rewilding Portugal), developed in Ermo das Águias rewilding area, his work, "Homo Stabilis".

This work pays tribute to the strong connection that the municipality of Pinhel has with this natural and resistant material that is granite, through the representation of these three human figures.

Gaspard Combes

Gaspard Combes has divided his life between Switzerland and France and is a visual artist that studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, having also done an exchange program in Jerusalem. He has already done several artistic residencies of land art all over the world, namely France, Switzerland, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. His last works were in Quebec (Canada) and Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania). An artist who likes, in large-scale works, to question the nowadays human disconnected from the natural world and put into perspective the fleetingness of our existence.

Ermo das Águias

Ermo das Águias is located in Vale Madeira, 10 minutes away from Pinhel, slightly in the mid-course of the Côa River, on a steep slope on the left bank of the river. This a key area for landscape connectivity in the Greater Côa Valley. Here, Rewilding Portugal is implementing ecological restoration actions to make the Greater Côa Valley a place where natural processes and complete food chains play fundamental roles in the landscape.

Following the west bank of the Côa River, Ermo das Águias marks an important transition in the landscape of the river valley. Here, the gentle slopes that flanked the river from the source end, and the rugged cliffs and escarpments that lead to its mouth on the Douro River begin.

Tauros have been released into the Greater Côa Valley for the first time. The herd will play a vital role in restoring grassland and woodland habitats in this rewilding landscape in Portugal.