Preparation of Management Plans for Island Natural Parks and Action Plans for Biosphere Reserves already in progress
The Regional Secretariat for Energy, Environment and Tourism, through the Regional Directorate for the Environment, has begun the preparation of Management Plans for Island Natural Parks and Action Plans for Biosphere Reserves. The first group meeting to monitor the process has already taken place.
The preparation and implementation of Management Plans for Island Natural Parks, as tools for the management of protected areas, Action Plans for Biosphere Reserves, as tools for the promotion of the sustainable development of these territories, aims to reach the strategic goals to value natural heritage and enhance Natural Parks. These commitments were assumed in the Programme of the XII Government of the Azores.
Management Plans for Island Natural Parks are tools that will allow the assessment of the values and threats present in each protected area, establish management goals, propose and award priority status to intervention options, identify areas compatible with various types of activities, and regulate the use of these areas.
The Action Plans for Biosphere Reserves will contribute to improving cultural well-being, quality of life and socio-economic conditions of the communities within the four Biosphere Reserves in the Azores, while ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of their natural resources, with special emphasis on endemic and indigenous biodiversity.
These plans, launched this year and to be concluded in 2018, are another step in the sustainable development strategy implemented by the Government of the Azores.