The work carried out by the various partners in different locations, together with the future prospects resulting from the activities carried out, were the highlights of the final seminar of the project entitled "Biosphere Reserves: Sustainable Territories, Resilient Communities", which took place on 28 September at the Pavilion of Knowledge in Lisbon.
The event was attended by the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, the Secretary of State for Internationalisation, Bernardo Ivo Cruz, and the Secretary of State for Planning, Eduardo Pinheiro, as well as the managers of the Biosphere Reserves and other partners who contributed to the project.
Biosphere Reserves are areas recognised by UNESCO's MaB programme for their nature, biodiversity and sustainable development, encompassing social, economic and cultural dimensions, with a focus on research and conservation of this heritage.
The project involved the collaboration of Quaternaire Portugal, the University of Coimbra, the New University of Lisbon, the Pedro Nunes Institute, the Order of Biologists, the KEEP Association, the University of Bergen in Norway, the Nordhorland UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (also in Norway), the Icelandic National Commission for UNESCO and the Snæfellsnes Regional Park, which is currently in the process of applying to become a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This project, promoted by Quaternaire Portugal, operated by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action and funded by the EEA Grants Programme, had as one of its main objectives to enhance these territories and put them on the map.