Alto Minho and Galicia prepare bid for cross-border UNESCO biosphere reserve on the Minho

The Minho River cross-border cooperation body (AECT), which brings together the Alto Minho inter-municipal community and the Pontevedra provincial government, wants to apply for UNESCO recognition of the river as a cross-border biosphere reserve. Its director, José Manuel Carpinteira, who is also mayor of Valença, says the bid is still being prepared and its feasibility assessed, but remains an objective. A public session in Tui, Galicia, on Friday at 5pm will hear several organisations share experience of creating and running such protected areas. The groundwork is the ECOFRONT_MINHO project, worth €985,400 and 75% funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Interreg Spain–Portugal.