The Montado is a vital ecosystem, encompassing various habitats within the Natura 2000 Network's Sectorial Plan. At Freixo do Meio, it covers more than 400 hectares, constituting a priority habitat and an important refuge for native fauna and flora.

The Montado do Freixo do Meio is an area that includes various habitats within the Natura 2000 Network’s Sectorial Plan:

• A continuous area of over 400 ha of priority habitat 6310 – “Quercus spp. evergreen oak woodlands,” featuring diverse tree and shrub patches, serving as important refuges for wild fauna and native plants.

• Vegetation patches associated with rocky outcrops of arbutus woodlands (habitat 5330pt3) and acidophilic oak woodlands (habitat 5330pt6). It is a convergence zone for various oak species and hybrids, and it also registers a high specific biodiversity with over 1,000 species of animals, fungi, and plants.

Notable features include:

• Plant species of community interest for conservation
• Mixed galleries of oaks and ashes, where a new, unidentified oak species was recently discovered alongside the oak-cerquinho and tree oak species
• Monumental trees, including ancient olive trees
• Ponds, marshes, dams, and lakes
• Over 130 species of fungi inventoried with recognized ecological and gastronomic interest