Conservation of Heaths and sustainable development of the Mourela Plateau

This project was developed within a partnership of the Municipality of Montalegre and ICNB (National Institute for the Nature Conservation), Natura e Usos and the University of Bergen. The Mourela Plateau is located in the National Park Peneda Gêres, part of this park is covered by the territory of Municipally of Montalegre.
The main goal of the project was to preserve the agriculture traditional practices, being the activities the rehabilitate the organization and communitarian management and traditional practices of wood areas management, reducing the biomass on the soils and avoiding this way the risk of fires. Within this activity old traditional ways of cleaning the woods were experimented and promoted, such as the use of these lands as cattle pasture (having both impacts: controlling the growth of woods/vegetation and as fertilizer). The peat lands are extremely vulnerable and must be preserved because they allocate a range of vegetable and animal biodiversity.
Another activity was the rehabilitation of an old forest house transforming it into an interpretation centre the area and interpretative routes/pedestrian paths of the Mourela plateau. The project also promoted and enhanced the territory through the creation of pedestrian paths, promotional events connected to traditional cattle agriculture activities, signalization of the paths with interpretation panels and also edition of promotional leaflets.