European life project: a global strategy for the responsible use of a coastal lagoon: a case study from Portugal

Rin de Aveiro is a coastal lagoon located at the Central Region of Portugal subjected to the influence of the tides, resulting in a set of characteristic biotopes favouring anthropic and natural processes. Once managed and controlled correctly, each of these biotopes will allow simultaneously the biodiversity and integration in the making of the wetland landscape. In 1998, one of the final conclusions of the "MARIA" Demonstration Programme for the Integrated Management of Ria de Aveiro was that the poor current state of the environment area resulted from a set of interrelated factors. The Programme selected four (4) pilot-projects towards the integrated management of the lagoon biotopes as possible scenarios for an intervention. This selection was based in criteria related to environmental priorities and the maintenance of traditional economic activities in the region. The idea of choosing projects that would involve the whole geographic space of the Ria, without forgetting the other important themes interrelated with the Management Structure, emerged as a relevant aspect for their definition. Thus, and as a first test of this Management Structure functionality, the following task forces were put forward: Recovery and valorisation of the piers; Recovery of the former salt pans; Management of the agricultural fields of Baixo-Vouga; Implementation of measures for the classification of the Protected Landscape Area of the River Caster Mouth. This payer will report the main results of these pilot-projects attained during their first year period, especially the intervention strategies defined by the Partnership created for this aim.