REWILDING PORTUGAL’S CÔA VALLEY
WWW.REWILDING-PORTUGAL.COM
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Rewilding Portugal is working with local partners to develop a 120,000 hectare wildlife corridor that connects the Malcata mountain range in the south to the Douro Valley in the north. Within the corridor, natural processes will be allowed to shape the land, reinstating a mosaic of vegetation structures diversified by herbivores that serve as natural fire breaks. As critical species return, ecotourism in the area will flourish, supporting a network of local nature-based enterprises.
Over the years, many agricultural landholdings in rural Portugal have been abandoned. Together with the decline of wild herbivores, this has reduced the level of grazing on the landscape, allowing fire-prone vegetation to extend across the land, with wildfires posing an ongoing danger to human life amidst a changing climate. In the Greater Côa Valley to the north of Portugal, lies an opportunity to recover natural processes and biodiversity, while building climate and community resilience.
Leica ambassador Pedro Prata, Team Leader of Rewilding Portugal.
Wild and semi-wild herbivores can help create natural, resilient vegetation structures. Image: Cláudio Noy.
Critical species such as the vulture, ibex and wolves will help to regulate the Côa Valley ecosystem.
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