Certified Destination: Baião, Portugal

Certified by EarthCheck

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By Paulo Pereira, President of Baião City Council

Located in the north of Portugal, positioned between the Douro River and the Marão Mountains with an area of approximately 175 km2, spread across 14 parishes, Baião is blessed by a huge variety of landscapes that range from rivers to mountains. The same mountains that for years made this territory difficult to access, are those that allowed the almost untouchable preservation of unique landscapes and ways of life in the region.

Between steep slopes, a vast forest that covers 70% of the territory and an ancient agricultural tradition, there are precious testimonies of an ancient human presence, in which civilizational layers overlap from prehistory to the present, with marks that define and are witnesses of the identity of this territory.

Our journey towards Sustainability

Our society and planet are living through crossroads, symbolized by an environmental crisis that is dangerously affecting the world due to climate change, jeopardizing this enormous ecosystem and the ways of life in our societies, as well as democracy itself. If this environmental situation doesn’t jeopardize

humanity, it at least challenges us and calls for action.

The signs are everywhere. From changing weather patterns, which threaten food production, to rising sea levels, which increase the risk of catastrophic floods, and rising temperatures, which cause fires of gigantic proportions, the impacts of climate change are on an unprecedented scale.

We all have to do our part to reverse the signs.

The Municipality of Baião has long been committed to sustainable development, consolidating an ambitious, integrated, and holistic model to drive transformations in areas such as infrastructure, mobility, and green spaces. This approach results in communities with improved living conditions, greater inclusion, innovation, and job opportunities.

As a community, we have developed foundational projects to enhance our heritage and boost sustainable tourism, which is strategic and in balance with the environment and our intangible traditions. Only with one voice, by multiplying small actions that add value, will we be able to stop the transformations that put our very livelihood at risk.

This is also why, four years ago, we began the process of certifying the territory as a Sustainable Tourism Destination through EarthCheck, a certification body accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, in adherence to the GSTC Destination Criteria.

The focus of this certification centres on balancing four pillars: environmental, socio-economic, cultural and sustainble management, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It’s an ongoing process that involves concrete improvement objectives based on an action plan, which includes actions and projects for the sustainable enhancement of tourism assets, aligning them with the best practices being implmented worldwide.

This was a bold yet responsible step in defending our populations, sustainabily promoting our territory, and fostering its economic and cultural development.

Green is the new Destination

Baião’s natural heritage is one of its greatest assets, and its valorisation is an unquestionable path towards common development. We have therefore committed to positioning ourselves at the forefront of environmentally responsible territories, with a vision of development that prioritises both people and the planet, benefiting the whole community.

Our municipality is charazterized by countless natural values that invite you to visit. These include the three mountains – Marão, Aboboreira and Castelo – and the three rivers – Ovil, Teixeira and Douro. The Serra da Aboboreira Regional Protected Landscape and the Ovil River Rehabilitation and Valorisation project focus on these ecosystems, which we urgently need to recover and preserve.

On the other hand, various heritage and archaeological values, such as the Eça de Queiroz Foundation, the Serra da Aboboreira megalithic complex, the Monastery of Santo André de Ancede, the vast religious heritage, handicrafts, museums and interpretive centres, and gastronomy, enrich the cultural heritage of the municipality of Baião, which must be preserved and shared with future generations.

It’s been a long and challenging road, but a virtuous one. In line with the 2030 Agenda’s goal of ‘leaving no one behind’, we know how to prioritise the most vulnerable. Baião is, above all, a Land of Affections.

We are all called upon to assume our role and responsibility in the defence of our common home. The same goes for preserving and guaranteeing a future for everyone. Ours and that of future generations.

To this end, we are counting on everyone’s commitment and contribution along this path so that everyone, like José Saramago, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, can find in Baião a place to sit “on the sandy ground, pick between two fingers a tender stem that was born next to a post, and, bowing their heads, finally listen to their own heart.”

Our motto is ‘Baião, Natural Life’. Come and see us up close!

Find out more about Sustainable Baião at: https://baiaosustentavel.pt/en/home/