Sunday, 01 August 2010 00:00
The Gerês-Xurés reserve, covers almost 260,000 hectares of territory in Spain and Portugal. It is a mountainous area between northeastern Portugal and the southeast of Orense in Galicia, and is protected in both countries. The population on each side of the border shares a similar way of life, and UNESCO’s aim in naming it a Biosphere Reserve is for both countries, and their local communities, to benefit from each other’s experience under a joint management plan for sustainable management of the area’s ecosystems. Biosphere Reserve covers Gerês-Xurés a total of eleven municipalities, six in Galicia (Lobios, Entrimo, Muiños, Lobeira, Calvos of Randín and Bande), and five in Portugal (Melgaço, Arcos de Valdeve, Ponte da Barca, Terra of Bouro and Montalegre) This area is distributed in both countries in the three types of areas that provides a biosphere reserve, on the basis of the following percentages of the total: core area, 4.6% E, P 8.7%, buffer zone, E 6, 9%, P 27.6%; transition zone, 12.8% and P E 39.4%. These territories and people share lifestyles and customs, agricultural, ethnography, traditions and legends, archaeological and historical heritage, ecosystems, plant and animal species, and are protected areas.
Portugal National Tourist Office