Program to promote R&D activities Montesinho Natural Park

The enhancement of the interior through knowledge from a sustainable development perspective requires scientific research and technological development that enable each region to understand its natural resources, particularly biological resources, including forests and agricultural and agroforestry systems, natural and cultural heritage, and sociocultural dynamics, within a framework of climate change and potential biotic and abiotic risks, combining observation, experimentation, and monitoring benchmarks.

The Montesinho Natural Park (PNM) is a mountainous area with unique characteristics, as it is the last mountain range in northeastern Portugal that still belongs to the northwestern peninsula and borders the Iberian Meseta. It has unparalleled environmental richness and is part of the Natura 2000 Network and the United Nations' Iberian Meseta Biosphere Reserve.

In areas where distinct natural domains meet, such as in this case in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula and the Iberian Mediterranean Meseta, biodiversity is enormous and provides ideal areas for monitoring and further studying climate change, as well as for developing timely mitigation measures and actions. In the case of the PNM, the mountainous system has a significant influence on the regional climate, as shown by studies and monitoring work carried out in recent decades, particularly within the scope of the Iberian Mountain Research Network.

With a focus on promoting interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary R&D activities to be carried out in the Montesinho Natural Park, the aim is to project these activities into the future, developing new knowledge in various thematic areas, from a scientific and cultural multidisciplinary perspective, contributing to a new international R&D agenda for the Montesinho Natural Park, including:

1. Earth observation and knowledge, including the use of satellite information and its integration into advanced information processing systems and artificial intelligence;
2. Climate and climate change;
3. Sustainable agrarian systems, including agriculture, forestry, and agroforestry systems, and the valorization of their products from a bioeconomy perspective;
4. Sociocultural dynamics;
5. Biodiversity and biological resources, natural and cultural heritage, and sustainable regional development.

In this regard, an R&D Program will be created for research in these areas, in compliance with Council of Ministers Resolution No. 15/2020, of March 27, integrating the scientific enhancement of the Montesinho Natural Park and attracting internationally renowned research groups to work in close cooperation with teams from Portuguese institutions.

Results

• 1st Edition

The FCT has published a brochure presenting theselected projects , which is available in digital format.