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The Greater Côa Valley's rich and varied Dehesa, Montado and Sierra landscapes, crossed by deep river valleys that straddle the border between Portugal and Spain, has become one of the most exciting wild areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Ecological processes have shaped the landscape towards a much more natural state. Wildlife has comeback including Iberian wolf, Iberian ibex, red deer and roe deer, all thriving in natural densities. In combination with some of the old local traditions, ways and products, this new wild dimension has created new sources of income and pride for the region's inhabitants.
The ecological integrity of this vast Mediterranean ecosystem has been restored in this rewilding area in Portugal, in particular in the Greater Côa Calley in Portugal. At the same time, large parts of it have become much wilder than before. Core rewilding areas with no-take zones have been established, which function as stepping stones that are connected through wildlife corridors and surrounded by transition- and buffer zones. Here, people still use the landscape in relatively traditional, but more sustainable and wildlife-friendly ways.
The Greater Côa Valley has not become a huge, unbroken wilderness area, but rather a much wilder version of the dehesa/montado habitat, containing several really wild zones where the original native range of species is back in place. Natural grazing with large herbivores has become a key natural process that helps to restore the Mediterranean habitats, facilitates species comeback such as the Iberian lynx, and acts as mitigation of excessive forest fires. The management principle practised in the core areas is based on letting nature manage itself to the highest degree possible.
The Greater Côa Valley has attracted new, young people, for whom it provides business opportunities based on these wild values, local products and culture, thereby contributing to its future. The negative spiral of land abandonment, loss of biodiversity, excessive fires and diminishing local culture has turned into new prosperity, attracting and inspiring many visitors, also from outside the region. The Greater Côa Valley is ecologically connected to similar natural, wild areas in other parts of Western and Northern Iberia, through the Natura 2000 network, and the rewilding team actively works also with this connectivity.

The Greater Côa Valley's rich and varied Dehesa, Montado and Sierra landscapes, crossed by deep river valleys that straddle the border between Portugal and Spain, has become one of the most exciting wild areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Ecological processes have shaped the landscape towards a much more natural state. Wildlife has comeback including Iberian wolf, Iberian ibex, red deer and roe deer, all thriving in natural densities. In combination with some of the old local traditions, ways and products, this new wild dimension has created new sources of income and pride for the region's inhabitants.
The ecological integrity of this vast Mediterranean ecosystem has been restored in this rewilding area in Portugal, in particular in the Greater Côa Calley in Portugal. At the same time, large parts of it have become much wilder than before. Core rewilding areas with no-take zones have been established, which function as stepping stones that are connected through wildlife corridors and surrounded by transition- and buffer zones. Here, people still use the landscape in relatively traditional, but more sustainable and wildlife-friendly ways.
The Greater Côa Valley has not become a huge, unbroken wilderness area, but rather a much wilder version of the dehesa/montado habitat, containing several really wild zones where the original native range of species is back in place. Natural grazing with large herbivores has become a key natural process that helps to restore the Mediterranean habitats, facilitates species comeback such as the Iberian lynx, and acts as mitigation of excessive forest fires. The management principle practised in the core areas is based on letting nature manage itself to the highest degree possible.
The Greater Côa Valley has attracted new, young people, for whom it provides business opportunities based on these wild values, local products and culture, thereby contributing to its future. The negative spiral of land abandonment, loss of biodiversity, excessive fires and diminishing local culture has turned into new prosperity, attracting and inspiring many visitors, also from outside the region. The Greater Côa Valley is ecologically connected to similar natural, wild areas in other parts of Western and Northern Iberia, through the Natura 2000 network, and the rewilding team actively works also with this connectivity.