Rewilding Portugal requested the publication and diffusion of this right of reply in Correio da Manhã (written version) and CMTV (television version), regarding a fallacious news/reportage published in these media on the 4th of March 2023, which we hereby publish.
The ability of the Eurasian beaver to create new habitats for a host of wildlife species, and to deliver a range of benefits for people, is amazing. Once on the verge of extinction, the beaver’s expansion across Europe over the last 60 years is a cause for celebration. But what exactly are the animal’s positive impacts?
Twelve Portuguese Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations sent an open letter to the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, asking him to express his support for the European Commission’s proposal for a Nature Restoration Law and his commitment to an expedited process at the next Environment Council, which will take place on December 20th.
At the beginning of November, the second meeting of the Communication team of the various European rewilding areas, for which Rewilding Europe is responsible, took place. One of the goals of this team is to spread this conservation approach, thereby generating pride and public support for the amplification of rewilding efforts across Europe. After a first meeting in the Netherlands, even before the pandemic, the second meeting was held in Portugal, organized by Rewilding Portugal, and served to create bridges, strengthen ties and work on joint strategies for the future.
The symposium, which helped promote rewilding in both a European and Portuguese context, featured a range of presentations from rewilding thought leaders. It has so far attracted over 2000 online views.
After this summer’s environmental catastrophe in Serra da Estrela, in which at least 25 thousand hectares burned in successive fires over several weeks, it is essential to bring together all the interested parties in the territory and at the national level to prepare a serious and realistic proposal to the environmental recovery of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park. In this sense, Rewilding Portugal sent a proposal for urgent ecological restoration measures to several key actors in the territory and with responsibilities in this matter.
In July of this year, the regenerative laboratories that are part of the LIFE ENPLC project, in which Rewilding Portugal is a partner, visited two of the rewilding areas that our organization manages along the Greater Côa Valley: Vale Carapito (Sabugal) and Paul de Toirões (Almeida).
A student of the University of Porto, Inês Silva, who were attending her Master’s in Economics and Environmental Management, developed her master’s dissertation throughout the 2021/2022 academic year in partnership with Rewilding Portugal, exploring the potential of the Iberian ibex in landscape management.
In 2023, artistic expression is back in the Greater Côa Valley and art returns to the wild in this region. The “CÔA – Corridor of Arts” festival will have its first edition taking place in the summer of 2023, in the Greater Côa Valley. A festival that seeks to connect artists with communities in this natural environment, in order to co-create works of art that have integrated the landscape itself, using natural materials and respecting its natural decay.
Even in the rewilding approach, where a lot of the nature recovery processes take place largely on their own after some initial management interventions, it is important to monitor and measure the impact of the work carried out, in the medium- and long-term. In a process that requires space and time to be effective, it is essential to showcase results and changes of rewilding, an approach which will play a decisive role in the ecosystems of the future.