National Park

A Protected Area that includes one or more ecosystems little altered by humans. These areas include representative natural regions and natural humanised landscapes, sites of geomorphological importance, and habitats and flora and fauna of ecological, scientific and educational interest.
The purpose is to protect the ecological integrity of the area’s ecosystems and to prevent intensive exploitation of its natural resources.

Peneda-Gerês is the only National Park in Portugal and is located in the Northwest part of the country. This Park belongs to the PAN Parks network.

Nature Reserve

Its purpose is to protect habitats of flora and fauna, with the aim of ensuring the natural conditions needed for the stability or survival of species, biotic communities or physical aspects of the environment, whenever these require human intervention to guarantee their survival.

Nature Park

A Protected Area that includes natural, semi-natural and humanised landscapes, of natural interest, representing the harmonious integration of human activity with nature. These Parks include examples of a biome or natural region, with the objective of allowing the features of natural and semi-natural landscapes and ecological diversity to be maintained and valued.

Natural Monument

A natural site that, given its outstanding nature, rarity or ecological, aesthetic, scientific and cultural representativeness, requires conservation.

Protected Landscape

A natural, semi-natural or humanised area that represents the harmonious integration of human activity with nature with the purpose of maintaining and valuing the natural or semi-natural landscape and its ecological diversity. According to legislation currently in force, these protected areas are to be re-classified.