Rewilding Portugal seeks €30,000 in public vote to ready rivers for beavers

Rewilding Portugal is one of nine finalists for a €30,000 conservation grant from the European Outdoor Conservation Association, with public voting open from 5 to 17 November. Its project would restore three streams in the Douro Internacional natural park by clearing invasive trees, planting 5,000 native ones and building two small beaver-style dams to hold water. The aim is to prepare habitats for European beavers, which are spreading naturally in Iberia; the first Portuguese record in 500 years came in 2025. The organisation says no beavers will be introduced or released.