Mountains areas have particular physiography and a long history of human occupation enabling certain species and habitats to remain relatively unchanging and providing unique landscapes. Safeguarding natural features has been a key reason for creating protected areas such as some of the most important Portuguese natural parks. It's been more than thirty years since the creation of these parks and there are some visible positive effects on nature conservation. However, population ageing and the abandonment of many activities, particularly those related with agriculture and traditional farming systems, are facts influencing local knowledge transmission and the systems of plant‐use, having some adverse impact on agro ecosystems biodiversity and cultural landscapes, for whose conservation the parks were created.