MADEIRA LEVADAS

The Water Ways to Discover Nature

Raimundo Quintal, PhD

Centro de Estudos Geográficos / Centre of Geographical Studies
Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Território / Institute of Geography and Spatial
Planning
Universidade de Lisboa / University of Lisbon
(raimundoquintal@campus.ul.pt)

Abstract: The agricultural terraces and irrigation channels are the most valuable
items of Madeira’s cultural heritage and the living expression of how human intervention
was possible without causing significant damage to the functioning of the local ecosystems.
Through the construction of small terraces of arable soil, and the irrigation of the island,
past generations created spectacular humanised landscapes worthy of the admiration and
respect of the visitor.

The irrigation channels (levadas) reveal a majestic Madeira which remains hidden
from the eye of the hurried tourist or the resident over-dependent on the motor car.
Walking along the irrigation channels it is possible to discover spots of indescribable
beauty, to tread the most idyllic landscapes and to admire the rich flora of Madeira, with
plants which are unique in the world.

Madeira Island has a huge in pedestrian tourism. The creation of new

recommended routes and continuous improvement of those already available are essential
to attract visitors who associate the holiday’s leisure to learn and are available for spending
money on programs to discover nature.

The investment in the maintenance and signaling pathways should be

complemented with the monitoring of load capacity, with the aim of ensuring the
conservation values of natural and cultural heritage, essential to the sustainability of this
tourism niche.

Key words: Madeira Island, Laurisilva, Natural landscape, Agriculture landscape,

Levadas, Footpaths, Walks

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 Resumo: As íngremes escadarias de poios e as levadas são as mais ricas peças do
património cultural da Ilha da Madeira e a expressão viva de como foi possível a
intervenção humana sem criar rupturas significativas no funcionamento dos ecossistemas.
Com a construção dos pequenos tabuleiros de solos aráveis e a irrigação das terras mais
secas do sul, conseguiram as gerações passadas edificar espectaculares paisagens
humanizadas, dignas de provocar admiração e impor respeito a qualquer visitante.

As levadas desvendam uma Madeira majestosa que escapa ao turista apressado e ao

residente acomodado ao automóvel. Através delas é possível descobrir recantos de beleza
indescritível e estudar uma flora rica em espécies únicas no mundo.

A Ilha da Madeira tem enormes potencialidades no Turismo de Pedestrianismo. A

criação de novos percursos recomendados e a beneficiação contínua dos já disponíveis são
essenciais para atrair visitantes, que nas férias associam o lazer ao saber e estão disponíveis
para gastar dinheiro em programas de descoberta da Natureza.

O investimento na manutenção e sinalização dos percursos deve ser

complementado com a monitorização da capacidade de carga, com o objectivo de garantir
a conservação dos valores prioritários do património natural e cultural, essenciais para a
perenidade deste nicho de turismo.

Palavras-chave: Ilha da Madeira, Laurissilva, Paisagem natural, Paisagem agrária,

Levadas, Veredas, Percursos pedestres

1. Introduction

What pleased him most in Madeira? Asked the Regional Secretariat of Tourism in a
survey distributed to tourists in 1983. Of 18 possible responses, 35.7% of respondents
pointed to the natural beauty as the factor that caused them the most satisfaction during
their stay. Second, with 13.6%, was registered the friendliness of residents, coming in third
position with 12.4% the climate. Flowers pleasing 7.8% of respondents, slightly less than
the good hotels, which has raised 8.4% of responses.

A study for the Department of Tourism, between 7th December 2009 and 4th
January 2010, "in order to obtain the profile of tourists in Madeira and to estimate tourist
spending in this destination revealed that the main reason for the trip to Madeira Island
was the contact with nature (34%). Then, in descending order, were referred the following

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reasons: sun and sea (21%), culture (13%), visiting relatives / friends (11%), food (10%);
city & short break (7%); rest (3%), golf (1%); touring (1%).

The figures revealed by the two studies are clear. Nature is the main tourist
attraction of Madeira. But to know the most beautiful places you need to walk along the
levadas and the many paths that ply the island, which justifies the choice of the theme of
this work.

The levadas are inextricably linked in the way space has been used for almost six
centuries, so we’ll begin with a brief characterization of the natural and agricultural
landscape. Following are the main steps of the referenced construction of monumental
network taken, which reaches about 1,400 km.

After an approach to the economic, social and environmental impacts of the

pathways in levadas and trails taken in, will be drawn the broad lines of a new strategy to
promote the main niche tourism in Madeira.

2. Natural and agriculture landscapes

Figure 1. Laurisilva, the indigenous forest of Madeira, classified by UNESCO as a World

Natural Heritage Site (RQ - 07.08.10)

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 The small surface area of Madeira (756 square kilometres), it’s high population
density (318 people/square kilometres) and its ultra-peripheral status relatively to the hub
of European decision making, hasn’t stopped Madeira from having a natural heritage of
great beauty and rarity. As a result the island is a botanical relic whose scientific and cultural
importance goes well beyond the limits of this Autonomous Region and Portugal itself. In
December 1999 the Laurisilva, the indigenous forest of Madeira, was classified by
UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage Site.

Nature is the main attraction of Madeira. The landscape and its pleasant climate are
the main resources of this Autonomous Region. Tourism is fundamental for the
sustainable development of Madeira. This sustainability depends on the rigorous protection
of all biophysical systems. Similarly, this approach should extend to the areas colonised by
human beings where man made elements and the natural systems should be harmoniously
integrated.

Tourism, and the growing urbanisation, must not damage the ecological exclusivity
of this volcanic island. If tourism is the honoured medium for the cultural interchange
between peoples, we must protect our natural and historical resources, an essential factor
for us to be respected by others. We have inherited a culture and should be able to renew it
through contact with other peoples, however, without losing our identity. Cultural
influences should work both ways.

Madeira has excellent conditions to provide the nature lover’s with a really
outstanding holiday. Here you’ll have the opportunity to study, or merely observe, plant
life, birds and endemic butterflies, as well as visiting beautiful ornamental gardens and
Quintas (small farms or estates) with flowering plants from the tropics and temperate
regions of the world. You can also stay in the countryside and eat the local products, go
for long walks along trails (levadas and footpaths) full of superb views and monumental
geological formations carved by water or by the wind.

The Madeiran people, squeezed between the Atlantic Ocean and the volcanic
mountains, used their ingenuity and stamina to construct a magnificent agricultural
landscape over the headlands, achadas (small platforms at high altitudes) and steep slopes
which are still worked on today.

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 The Madeiran rural landscape, a giant escalator of small terraces, should be looked
at as a monument built over generations, at a cost of much sweat and sometimes blood or
even life itself.

Figure 2. Rural landscape at Furna in Ribeira Brava (RQ - 05.12.09)

The agriculture terraces (poios) and irrigation channels (levadas) are the most valuable
items of Madeira’s cultural heritage and the living expression of how human intervention
was possible without causing significant damage to the function of the ecosystems.

From 1508 to 1515, Affonso de Albuquerque was the governor of India,

distinguished among those that fought to destroy the Arabian navigation and weaken its
main commercial polios. To reach those goals he proposed to King D. Manuel I a plan to
conquer Egypt. He even wrote a letter, asking for the man that were working in the levadas,
because with them it would be possible to change the course of the river Nile leaving Cairo
without any water. The destruction of Cairo would make it possible to conquer Egypt in
two years (Letters from Affonso de Albuquerque, 1884).

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 D. Manuel never satisfied Affonso de Albuquerque wish and the Nile went on
fertilizing the crofts of Cairo. But this curious episode show’s that in the beginning of the
XVI century the bravery of the worker’s that built the Levadas of Madeira was well known.

To construct the terraces, the basalt rocks had to be broken and the tufts of
volcanic rock reduced to dust. Stone on stone, unending walls were built. The Madeirans
carried soil on their backs along the steep mountain paths to fill the fertile terraces, which
have produced food and drink for over six centuries.

Figure 3. Levada dos Tornos at Boaventura in northern slope (RQ - 07.08.10)

The secret of such longevity in production lies in the way in which the Madeirans
are able to apportion the different elements of the agricultural landscape. Where
temperatures are high, water is scarcer. Therefore levadas had to be built. Water taken
from the south rivers proved insufficient to satisfy the needs of the sun drenched southern
slopes. So, in the second half of the XIX century and particularly in the 1950’s and 1960’s
tunnels were built throughout the central mountain. The water that was brought from the
northern slopes, through long dark tunnels and aqueducts scraped into the mountainside,

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changed the appearance of large areas that had been traditionally used for dry agriculture.
Campanário, Quinta Grande, Estreito de Câmara de Lobos flourished with the water from
the Levada do Norte. The Machico Valley was irrigated by the opening of the Levada
Nova, which took water right up to the arid area of Caniçal. The uplands of the eastern
areas of Funchal, Caniço, Gaula and Santa Cruz benefited greatly from the Levada dos
Tornos.

As a result of an average temperature usually above 15ºC, water in ready supply,

and soil enriched by the manure from the cows kept in the palheiros (mountain sheds) the
small agricultural holdings produced food all year round.

The small size of the terraces, which look more like miniature gardens meticulously
cared for by hand, and the difficulty in reaching them, (even today the produce from many
sites has to be carried on the farmer’s backs over long and steep trails) are all contributing
factors in the abandonment of many of the small holdings.

With a few exceptions, the younger generations shy away from agriculture, and as
their elders lose their strength, the stone walls begin to fall and the brambles take over.
Here lies another detrimental consequence of the decline in agriculture. Kept in good
conditions, the terraces absorb the majority of the rainfall, which in turn reduces erosion.
As the stone wall weakens, the likelihood of landslides and falling rocks increases, and so
does the amount of mud carried by the streams, increasing the risk of natural disasters.
Agricultural soil ends up in the sea causing great ecological damage.

Over the course of many years Madeirans have been able to work the land
productively, and have cared for their terraced lands with wisdom. Ranging from the fajãs
(platforms at the base of a sea cliff created by rock-fall) to the exposed achadas, every area
has either been planted with monocultures, dependent on the outside world for their trade
(such as sugar cane, vines, bananas) or by a diverse range of crops for personal or local
consumption.

In many areas, such as Caldeira, Câmara de Lobos, the agricultural fields between
the houses have been transformed into fine market-gardens. What can be seen there is not
just an economic activity. It is an art, it is culture. It is the perfect articulation between
mineral and plant, thanks to the accumulated knowledge and wisdom held by many
generations. This form of agriculture is pleasing to the eye and comforts the soul.

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 Taken as a whole, the agricultural landscape has to be understood and managed as
an ethnographic resource essential for the preservation of the identity of the Madeiran
people, who from early XV century, have struggled against the volcanic rocks in search of
soil and water.

Figure 4. The fajãs (platforms at the base of a sea cliff created by rock-fall) at Cabo Girão
(RQ - 31.01.05)

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 3. The network of levadas

The network of irrigation channels is, without doubt, a very impressive monument
with a total length of one thousand four hundred kilometres on an island that is just 756
square kilometres.

Figure 5. Island of Madeira (Picken’s Madeira Illustrated, Nov. 1840)

In Madeira, the story of the levadas is inseparable from that of man. The first of
these channels were built at the dawn of settlement, and since then more and more have
been added in an endless process. As Maria Lamas wrote:

For this people, the problem of levadas is life itself. Without water, the land would be
barren.

For water, the people of Madeira became giants in the struggle with another giant:
the mountain.

For water, they were capable of superhuman efforts, supplying what nature did not.

For water, they defied death and, many times, were vanquished (Lamas, 1956:
110)”

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 Skirting mountain ridges or crossing through hard basalt rock, the irrigation
channels are the indelible mark of the laborious work of generations of Madeirans.

The first irrigation channels were built during the times immediately after the first
settlement of the island in the 15th century. According to the chronicles of the time, these
were open channels of little length made from wooden planks and carved into the rocks.
As water demand grew to irrigate the sugar cane fields and the vineyards, the network of
irrigation channels was extended and better techniques used in their construction. Channels
began to built in solid masonry, replacing the original wooden troughs. The use of
explosives greatly facilitated the opening of tunnels and galleries to collect water. The
length of the channels gradually grew, and their width was increased.

The oldest irrigation channels are less than one metre in width and have a depth of
between 50 and 60 centimetres. Those built over the last 60 years have a much greater
capacity, with depths of between one metre and one metre twenty centimetres and widths
of over one metre. Nowadays, new channels are built and old ones repaired using
reinforced concrete.

In any case the levadas continue to be narrow channels, thus, preventing loss of too
much water through evaporation. Their longitudinal profile is normally designed with
enormous precision. The slope is gentle to ensure the slow movement of the water, and
what was once a rapid mountain torrent racing to the valley below becomes a slow-flowing
current channelled by a narrow watercourse.

No matter if they are old or new, there is always a path running alongside these
irrigation channels. These paths, some wide, some narrow, are shaped according to the
characteristics of slopes. In some places, these paths are so wide as to resemble avenues,
whilst the others they scarcely allow room to walk. In some areas, they are bordered by
sheltering heather and bilberry plants giving walkers greater security. In others, the deep
abyss looms sheer below, challenging even brave spirits in search of adventure.

Walking along the levadas it’s possible to discover spots of indescribable beauty, to
tread the most idyllic landscapes and to admire the rich flora of Madeira, with species
which are unique in the world.

The vascular flora of Madeira and Selvagens archipelagos integrates a total of 1,207
taxa (species and subspecies): 157 (136 species and 21 subspecies) are endemic of Madeira

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and Selvagens, which corresponds to 13,0%; 74 are macaronesian endemisms (6,1%); 480
taxa are indigenous but not endemic (39,8%); 66 taxa are probably indigenous (5,5%); 29
taxa where most likely introduced (2,4%); 401 taxa (33,2%) refer to naturalized exotic
plants (Jardim & Sequeira, 2008).

Figure 6. Levada do Rei at Ribeiro Bonito in São Jorge, northern slope (RQ – 24.07.10)

Some cross densely wooded areas. Others run at lower altitudes and led us to
contemplate the multicoloured pattern of cultivated lands. For centuries, the irrigation
channels were built solely by the force of brave men using rudimentary tools. These early
builders worked in wicker baskets hanging from tops tied to tree trunks or rocks above. In
their hanging baskets, they cut into the rocks to open up channels through which the
precious water could pass.

The work of building new channels and repairing existing ones is now somewhat
less laborious. The use of modern machinery reduces labour and speeds up the working
rhythm, but death still awaits the slightest distraction, the smallest error. Life is not easy for
those who, from morning till night, carry bags of sand or cement along narrow paths

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beside awesome sheer drops. Throughout the year, on the edge of precipices, have men
risked their lives for a trickle of water.

In the first decade of the third millennium, on this tiny island in the northern
Atlantic, the search for water continues to be an epic struggle. An epic struggle, which
began almost six centuries ago, and that is destined to continue for many years to come.

Of the oldest irrigation channels, some have been lost, not even traces remaining.
Others, though old now, continue to fulfil the mission for which they were built. But there
also exists many newer ones, as well as those which have yet to be built.

The first irrigation channels were privately-owned. They were ordered to be built by
rich men, owners of springs and farmland. The owners of these first levadas administered
the water at their pleasure. When they had more water than they needed, they sold it to
tenant farmers and settlers, who were often the victims of speculation.

As far back as the 15th century, however, other privately-owned irrigation channels
were built by associations of heréus. Heréus are farmers who own part of the water from an
irrigation channel. They pay for the conservation of the channel and elect from amongst
them a committee to administer it. Finally, individually-owned irrigation channels
disappeared completely and there survive only a few associations of heréus, still maintaining
their irrigation channels in good condition.

The Levada do Moinho, irrigates the land of Lombada and Lugar de Baixo in
Ponta de Sol, it’s a levada of that preserves the oldest traditions. Before the water start’s it’s
period of irrigation, what usually happens in March or April according to the end of the
rainy season, the agricultural land owners get together at the Lombada’s church to elect the
commission and give the auction of the levada. The financial support of each farmer to the
maintenance of the levada and the payment of the levadeiro’s work (the man responsible for
the maintenance of the irrigation channel and the water distribution) is calculated by the
canas of land that they posses and the existing cultures. A cana has an area of 30 m2 (30 m x
1 m). A cana of banana groves in Lugar de Baixo pays a bit more than a cana of potatoes in
Lombada da Ponta do Sol.

Till the end of the XVIII century the irrigation of agricultural lands in the south of
Madeira was made with water from the levadas that didn’t cross the central mountain
system. Meanwhile, the growing of agriculture till 600 m of altitude generated a growth in

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the lack of water and forced new capitations in the northern slopes. In the North, water is
abundant, but to transport it to the thirsty southern lands was an extremely hard task. To
cross the mountain great technical problems rose witch demanded huge financial
investments.

The construction of irrigation channels with public money began during the first
half of the 19th century. The Levada Velha do Rabaçal was the first to benefit from public
funds. Work on its construction began in 1835 but was not completed until 1860, testifying
on the technical and financial difficulties of the enterprise (Amaro da Costa, M. R., 1951).

The Levada da Serra do Faial was the second built with public money. The irrigation
channel originates in the Faial Mountains, winding for 54 kilometres around slopes and
valleys to reach Choupana, in the eastern heights of Funchal.

In 1830, a group of agricultural land owners funded the society of Levada Nova do
Furado with the goal of bringing to Funchal water from the streams of Lajes and Juncal
and also from Ribeiro Frio. Forty years later the goal of this society hadn’t been reached,
due, to the lack of money and technical means to achieve the ambitious project. With the
inability of private initiatives, the state was forced to intervene. In 1887 the construction of
the Levada da Serra do Faial started with money from the public treasury and water started
to benefit the agriculture in the county of Machico, Santa Cruz and Funchal in September
of 1905. The impressive cutting into the rocks at Cabeço Furado and the many stone walls
which support this aqueduct clinging along the edge of precipice are clear testimonies of
over 30 years of work carried out at enormous risk.

Up to this point, state action had been limited, reduced to merely granting rights to
explore waterways and to passing laws governing the administration of private irrigation
channels. However, state intervention became much more intense when in 1947 the
Madeira Administrative Commission on Hydraulic Resources launched an ambitious plan
for the construction of new irrigation channels. At this time there already existed some 200
levadas forming a total network of around 1,000 kilometres. In spite of the size of this
system, studies recommended a significant increase in irrigated areas and the use of the
water to produce electrical power.

Engineer Rafael Manuel Amaro da Costa, Chairman of the Committee, was the
great strategist of the plan to divert the left over water from the watersheds of the north to
the dry and warmer lands of the south. The hard field work enabled him to know the

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hydro-geological structure of the island, realizing that the main flow was available over the
altitude of 1,000 meters. As the lands to irrigate were located below the 600 meters, he
concluded that it was possible to produce electricity with the same waters.

The island of Madeira has an area of 756 square kilometres. Of this, due to its
mountainous nature and characteristics of its soil, only 300 square kilometres are
considered arable. In 1947, the irrigated area was less than 110 square kilometres, clearly
insufficient (C.A.A.H. da Madeira -1969).

Thanks to the expert work of a group of specialists and the spirit of sacrifice of
many hundreds of local workman, by 1967 practically the entire arable area was irrigated
and the total length of the island’s network of irrigation channels had been increased from
1,000 to 1,400 kilometres. In just 20 years, almost 400 kilometres of channels were built
and 209 square kilometres of land converted from dry to irrigation farming.

Figure 7 - General Outline of Hydro-agricultural and Hydroelectric Power of Madeira in

1969 (CAAHM - 1969).

Moreover, four hydroelectric power stations were built, producing around 15% of
the region’s total electric power consumption actuality. The work carried out was
particularly noteworthy due to the difficulties encountered. Almost 100 kilometres of
irrigation channels were opened up at altitudes approaching, 1,000 metres, in zones of
frequent fog and heavy rainfall.

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 Of the total of 100 kilometres of channels built above the hydropower stations,
some 20 kilometres are in tunnels. At lower altitudes, irrigation channels were opened up to
carry water for irrigation and drinking water supply after passing through the turbines of
the hydropower stations, located at altitudes around 600 metres.

To further its work of opening up new irrigation channels, the state took over
control of many privately-owned waters. This was not always a peaceful process, some of
the former owners reacting at times violently to government moves. The conquest of water
generated much drama and more than one tragedy on this island.

Figure 8 – Levada Nova in Lombada at Ponta do Sol (RQ - 13.01.07)

The last happened on May 13th, 1963. The heréus of Levada do Moinho rebelled
against the Commission of Hydraulic, which intended to remove part of the water of the
stream of Ponta do Sol to power the Levada Nova, built at a higher level and extending to
the lands of Apresentação in Ribeira Brava. According to agricultural land owners of
Lombada da Ponta do Sol the measure would force the deactivation of the Levada do
Moinho, to irrigate overnight and pay a higher price for the water. Between May and

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August there was an always person watching the origin of the levadas, preventing the water
from being introduced into the Levada Nova. The insurgency ended in August, when
Sãozinha, a little girl from Lombada, was killed by a bullet fired by a policeman.

Lives were lost in the heroic task of excavating into rocky slopes, opening up paths
for the water, building the most splendid of monuments. Lives were lost ingloriously in
absurd struggles for the possession of a trickle of water to irrigate a tiny patch of ground.
Water has been the source of love and of hate, of co-operation and of war, of joy and of
suffering.

Beyond the control of passions and conflict, the water continues to flow, gently and
silently, along the irrigation channels built by countless anonymous heroes.

4. Pathways in levadas and trails

The levadas, in addition to the transportation of water, are also a way of discovering
nature. Taking us to the fascinating areas of Laurisilva, were crossing with old pedestrian
paths take us to the pikes of the island where we can witness the remarkable geological
formation, populated by plants resistant to cold and wind, with cliffs that shelter both rare
indigenous plants and exotic species from the four corners of the world.

But if the natural heritage offers more than enough reasons to attract tourists that
are fond of walking, the agricultural landscape provides places of rare beauty. Impelled by
the spirit of adventure, the urge to find outstanding landscapes, or simply for
contemplation of nature’s gift tourists from different generations are invited to hike
through the many paths that cross the island from the sea to the mountains.

Due to the economic, social and environmental importance of the footpaths

throughout the levadas and trails, the regional government established on 29th October
2000, the Regional Legislative Decree No N º 7-B/2000/M, which established a set of 52
recommended pathways on Madeira Island and 4 on the island of Porto Santo, which
established “an enlighten signage system for the correct orientation and information of
visitors and users, identifying issues regarding pedestrian safety, along with the collective
interest of maintaining the ecological balance, so that there’s a balanced usage, and a
proactive promotion of this tourist destination without compromising it’s enjoyment by
future generations."

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 Of the 52 recommended pathways in Madeira Island, 24 are on old roads and trails,
18 are partially through trails and levadas and 10 are exclusively in levadas (Table 1).
Pathways in levadas
Queimadas - Caldeirão
Verde – Queimadas
Ribeiro Frio – Balcões
Ribeiro Frio – Portela
Quatro Estradas - Portela
Eira de Fora - Quatro
Estradas
Vale Paraíso - Rochão
Maroços - Túnel do Caniçal
Levada dos Piornais desde
os Barreiros até à Lombada
Estreito de Câmara de
Lobos -Levada do Norte -
Quinta Grande -
Campanário
Rabaçal - Risco
Pathways in levadas and
trails
Lombo do Urzal - origem
da Levada dos Tornos - casa
dos cantoneiros - Fajã do
Penedo (Boaventura)
Ribeiro Frio – Balcões -
Central da Fajã da Nogueira
- Ponte da Ribeira da
Metade
Camacha - Choupana-
Monte
Machico - Boca do Risco -
Amarela - Larano - Porto da
Cruz
Túnel do Caniçal - Levada
(Marconi) - Caniçal - Pico
do Facho
Machico -Ribeira Seca -
Boca do Risco - Levada -
Túnel do Caniçal
Portela – Maiata - Levada
do Castelejo - Referta –
Portela
Camacha - Assomada
Poço da Neve - Levada do
Barreiro - Casa do Barreiro - do Pedreiro - Terra Baptista
Levada dos Tornos - Curral - Porto da Cruz
dos Riomeiros - Levada do
Bom Sucesso
Chão da Lagoa - Levada da Pico do Facho - Caniçal
Ribeira das Cales - Portão
Sul do Parque Ecológico -
Pico Alto
Babosas - Palheiro Ferreiro Portela – Funduras - Portela
Encumeada - Folhadal –
Ginjas
Encumeada - Lombo do
Mouro - Bica da Cana -
Caramujo – Ginjas
Paul da Serra - Ribeira da
Janela
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Pathways in trails
Encumeada - Pico Ruivo -
Pico do Areeiro
Pico Ruivo - Ilha
Pico do Areeiro -Pico Ruivo
- Achada do Teixeira -
Queimadas - Santana
Pico do Areeiro - Pico
Ruivo – Torrinhas - Lombo
do Urzal (Boaventura)
Pico do Areeiro - Pico das
Torres - Pico Ruivo -
Achada do Teixeira
Lombo do Urzal - Fajã dos
Cardos (Curral das Freiras)
Achada do Teixeira - Pico
Ruivo - Achada do Teixeira
Poiso - Caminho Velho -
Ribeiro Frio
Poiso – Terreiros - Cabeço
Portela – Funduras - Ribeira
de Machico
Baía de Abra - Casa do
Sardinha (Ponta de São
Lourenço)
Eira do Serrado - Curral das
Freiras
 Paul da Serra -
Estanquinhos - Caramujo -
Bica da Cana –
Estanquinhos
Paul da Serra - Rabaçal -
Loreto - Arco da Calheta
Rabaçal - 25 Fontes
Calheta - Salão - Rabaçal
Total - 10 Total – 18
Table 1 – Recommended pathways on Madeira Island in 2000 (Regional Legislative Decree
Nº 7-B/2000/M)
Lombo Grande - Torrinhas
Fajã Escura - Pico Grande -
Boca dos Namorados
Lombo Chão - Boca das
Torrinhas
Pico Furão - Pico Ruivo
Corticeiras - Boca dos
Namorados - Curral das
Freiras
Corticeiras - Terreiros -
Lugar da Serra - Espigão -
Ribeira Brava
Encumeada - Relvinha -
Boca da Corrida - Jardim da
Serra
Prazeres - Paul do Mar
Prazeres - Fonte do Bispo -
Rabaçal
Ponta do Pargo - Farol -
Pico Vermelho - Salão -
Ponta do Pargo
Total - 24

Between 2003 and 2005, the project TOURMAC - Walking Tourism and
Sustainable Development, as part of the Community Initiative INTERREG III B Madeira
- Azores – Canaries, information boards, arrow shaped signs and international field marks
were placed, in 23 of the recommended pathways (20 Madeira Island and 3 on the island of
Porto Santo).

Accordingly, to the Operational Programme of Multifunds of the Autonomous

Region of Madeira (POPRAM III), the Regional Direction of Forestry has developed a
project for the Improvement/Remodeling of the Recommended Pedestrian Trails in
Madeira, where 18 footpaths were retrieved (15 Island Madeira and 3 at Porto Santo
Island), making a total of 125,259 meters in extension. The investment of 4.4 million
euro’s, had a contribution of 70% by FEDER and 30% from the budget of the
Autonomous Region.

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 "The aim of this project was: - to beneficiate and recover the recommended
pathways for tourism, so that safety conditions were improved; to create conditions to
increase the usability and enjoyment of these resources by tourists and resident population;
to help preserve natural resources and the existing landscape and to improve the
performance of rescue teams "(DRF-2010).

In August 2010 a joint decree of the Regional Secretariat of Tourism and Transport
and Regional Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources amended the list of
recommended walking routes in the Regional Legislative Decree Nº7-B/2000. Change
resulted from a fall from 56 to 28 recommended routes (25 on Madeira Island and 3 on the
island of Porto Santo).

Of the 25 recommended pathways in Madeira Island, only 12 are on trails and old
paths, 4 are partially in trails and levadas, and 9 are exclusively in levadas (Table 2). All
suggested trails belong to the internationally designed Short Trails Network.

Pathways in levadas Pathways in levadas and Pathways in trails

Levada do Barreiro (Poço
da Neve - Casa do Barreiro)
Levada das 25 Fontes
(Rabaçal - 25 Fontes)
Levada do Risco
(Rabaçal - Risco)
Levada do Moinho (Ribeira
da Cruz -Lamaceiros)
Levada do Caldeirão Verde
(Queimadas -Caldeirão
Verde -Caldeirão do
Inferno)
Levada do Furado ou
Levada da Serra do Faial
(Ribeiro Frio - Portela)
Ribeiro Frio - Balcões
Levada da Fajã do
Rodrigues (São Vicente)
trails
Pico do Areeiro - Chão da
Lagoa - Levada das Cales -
Ribeira das Cales
Levada dos Cedros (Fanal -
Curral Falso)
Vereda da Ribeira da Janela
(Curral Falso -Ribeira da
Janela)
Lombo do Mouro -
Pináculo - Caramujo -
Folhadal - Encumeada
Pico do Areeiro - Pico das
Torres - Pico Ruivo -
Achada do Teixeira
Achada do Teixeira - Pico
Ruivo - Ilha
Achada do Teixeira - Pico
Ruivo - Achada do Teixeira
Pico Ruivo - Encumeada
Curral das Freiras - Boca
das Torrinhas - Boaventura
(Lombo do Urzal)
Ribeira das Cales - Monte
(Caminho Real do Monte)
Portela - Funduras -
Maroços
Baía de Abra - Casa do
Sardinha (Ponta de São
Lourenço)

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Levada do Rei (Quebradas - Caminho Real da
Ribeiro Bonito) Encumeada (Encumeada-
Relvinha-Boca da Corrida)
Vereda do Fanal
(Assobiadores - Fanal)
Caminho Real do Paul do
Mar (Prazeres – Paul do
Mar)
Prazeres - Jardim do Mar

Total - 9 Total – 4 Total - 12

Table 2 - Officially recommended pathways in Madeira in 2010 (JORAM – Second Series –
20.08.10).

According to values collected by the Regional Direction of Forestry, the five most
popular routes for tourists are, in descending order, Rabaçal - Risk - 25 Fontes, Achada do
Teixeira - Pico Ruivo, Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço, Levada do Caldeirão Verde and
Pico Areeiro to Pico Ruivo.
December, January and February are the months that recorded the lowest usage
rates. After March there´s a increase in demand, reaching its highest value in August.

5. A new strategy in promoting the Levadas of Madeira

Madeira Island has a huge potential in hiking and pedestrian thematic tourism. The
opening of new pathways and the continuous improvement of those already available are
essential to attract visitors that on holiday’s associate leisure and knowledge, and that would
spend money in programs to discover nature.

The catastrophic floods on the 20th of February and the violent fires on the 13th and
14th of August, damaged some of the levadas and paths, leading to temporary closure of
some of the recommended routes. After a first emergency intervention, which allowed
water to circulate again, there’s a second phase on the way that will take more time,
requiring the implementation of a requalification plan of a few more levadas.

It will be a huge loss to the cultural heritage of Madeira, not to consider investing in
the recovery of the Levada do Curral e Castelejo, whom for five centuries enabled the
people from Curral das Freiras to come to Funchal to sell plums and walnuts, but also
allowed them to obtain in the city the essentials needs for their own survival.

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Figure 9 – Levada do Curral e Castelejo (RQ - 13.09.05)

The Levada da Negra, which is born near Pico Areeiro, was until the early twentieth
century, one of the paths chosen by men who carried the ice of the mountain to the city.
Due to the views provided and the importance it has to the knowledge of the hills on
Funchal it deserves to be listed as one of the priority recoveries.

The Levada da Ponta do Clérigo, that passes through the Cortado of Santana and
carries water to irrigate the lands bordering the western edge of the bay of Faial, offers
visitors a unique view of the north coast from Ponta de São Lourenço until Ponta de
São Jorge. It’s urgent to recover small sections and also to implement of signage.

The Levada da Silveira in Santana, the Levada da Água de Alto in Faial, the Levada
that supplies the Hydroelectric Power Station in Ribeira da Janela, the Levada dos Tornos
between the Lombo do Urzal and the Fajã do Penedo, the Levada da Achada Grande in
Boaventura, the Levada do Norte between Cabo Girão and Eira do Mourão, the Levada
Nova and the Levada dos Moinhos at Lombada in Ponta do Sol, the Levada of
Hydroelectric Power Station in Calheta to Poiso in Canhas, the Levada of Hydroelectric

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Power Station in Calheta to Ponta do Pargo, the Levada do Pico da Urze and the Levada
do Alecrim in Paul da Serra, the Levada do Castelejo in Porto da Cruz and the Levada
Nova in Machico, among others, deserve to be included in a future network of
recommended routes.

Figure 10 - Levada da Silveira in Santana (RQ – 25.04.10)

Thematic paths, for example, "the epic of water", "geomonuments", "giants of the
forest," " endemic flowers ", "bird watching", "the vine and wine," “the banana
plantations”, or the "traditional architecture", would allow tourists to have a more
enriching contact with the diversity of the surrounding landscape through the canals and
paths.

The production of good television documentaries and creating high-quality content

on the Internet are essential to the success of a new strategy for the promotion of the
Levadas of Madeira.

The increase in the number of recommended routes is necessary for responding to

the desired growth in demand. The success of this strategy involves continuous monitoring

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of load capacity of each flow, in order to ensure the authenticity and integrity of natural
heritage. Only this can ensure the sustained evolution of the main tourism niche in Madeira
and to prevent it’s massification.
The results of inquiries made to tourists visiting Madeira, clearly demonstrate that
the contact with nature is the main factor of attraction of the island. It also demonstrates
the high degree of satisfaction given by the natural beauty of the Levadas.
The history and the monumental engineering works are strong grounds for the
proposing of the inscription of the Levadas in Madeira Island as a UNESCO – World
Cultural Heritage Site.

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to thank Mrs. Nancy Policarpo, Research Fellow in IGOT
(Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning) for the translation.

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