Fragas do Eume Natural Park is one of Galicia’s seven natural parks and is home to one of the best-preserved Atlantic forests in Europe. Covering more than 9,000 hectares, it extends across parts of the five municipalities, bringing together a rich ecological, landscape and heritage value.

Its status as a protected area coexists, however, with a complex territorial reality. The structure of land ownership, the application of regulations, strong tourist pressure concentrated in certain areas, the loss of resident population, the abandonment of certain productive activities and the difficulty of coordinating multiple administrations and stakeholders at different levels all call for an integrated approach, capable of overcoming sectoral fragmentation.

In this context, Fundación RIA is developing an independent working process with the aim of identifying shared challenges, building points of consensus and defining concrete actions that contribute to the active conservation of Fragas do Eume.

The initiative seeks to move towards a shared vision of the park as a living territory, where the protection of environmental values can engage with economic activity, local culture, responsible public use and the improvement of quality of life in its surrounding area.

This project receives support from The MOP Foundation, which has been working with RIA since 2024 on strategic planning and design processes aimed at generating a positive and lasting impact on the territory.

The process begins with a territorial appraisal of the Fragas do Eume, supported by existing documentation, mapping, field visits and dialogue with stakeholders connected to the park. This approach seeks to understand, in an integrated way, both the physical and environmental conditions of the park and the social, productive and institutional dynamics that shape its conservation and management.

Fieldwork provides a more precise understanding of the different areas of the park, from its access points, paths, areas of greatest tourist pressure, heritage elements, productive zones and spaces with potential for intervention. This work is complemented by the study of land ownership structures, protection designations, agricultural activities and the relationships between settlements, infrastructure and natural resources.

In parallel, meetings and interviews with the different territorial stakeholders help to identify shared needs, conflicts and opportunities for the future of the park, informing the diagnosis. Based on the consensus that emerges throughout the process, the project identifies pilot actions capable of activating existing resources, strengthening collaboration between different stakeholders and demonstrating the viability of new forms of active conservation and sustainable development.

Within this framework, several lines of action are being articulated: the improvement of an existing path to diversify access to the park and reinforce its functionality; the recovery of a route between Caaveiro and Monfero to broaden the heritage and landscape reading of the Fragas; the creation of a working group with the local productive sector to explore new opportunities for the valorisation of the territory; and the launch of an open call for projects that can bring new initiatives, stakeholders and capacities into the process.

One of the main difficulties affecting the proper functioning of the Natural Park is related to the limited territorial articulation of its access points and internal routes. The concentration of public use along the Pontedeume–Mosteiro de Caaveiro axis makes park management more difficult, increases vulnerability to risks, accidents and emergencies, and leads to episodes of tourist overcrowding in certain areas.

In this context, the recovery of the Camiño Novo would make it possible to move towards a more balanced and functional access network. This route, with a variable section and just over two kilometres in length, connects A Ventureira with Caaveiro, although its final stretch is not currently accessible. Although it is already present in the territory, the route does not fully function as access infrastructure, and the improvement of a 250-metre stretch would complete an alternative connection with the park, reinforce internal mobility and reduce dependence on the most congested access point.

The intervention could also have a strategic function from the point of view of safety and territorial management. The existence of a new functional access point would provide support in emergency situations, improve evacuation conditions in the event of forest fires and reduce the vulnerability associated with existing stretches affected by flooding or deterioration of the road surface. As a pilot project, the intervention aims to establish a benchmark for physical intervention in a protected natural environment, both through the quality of its execution and through the consensus-building process and technical feasibility it requires.

The definition of the path should address landscape integration, accessibility and safety, while also ensuring ecological respect and a level of functionality appropriate to public use and park management. The aim is to move towards a real balance between conservation and use, avoiding oversized solutions and reinforcing the value of the path as infrastructure in the service of the territory.

Another line of work proposes recovering and bringing value to an old route that could reactivate territorial connections lost through changes in land use. This action would help strengthen the relationship between the monasteries of Caaveiro and Monfero and other heritage and landscape elements in the surrounding area, such as bridges, hydraulic infrastructure, dams, traditional paths and remains linked to the historic uses of the river.

The proposal seeks to broaden the public narrative of the Fragas, currently very much centred on Caaveiro, towards a wider reading of the park as a cultural landscape. Recovering these routes would help diversify the visitor experience, better distribute tourist flows and make visible other values of the territory that remain less recognised.

The route could also function as a tool for dissemination and environmental education, bringing visibility to the heritage of the Eume. Through a careful intervention, compatible with regulations and with the ecological sensitivity of the area, this line of work seeks to reinforce the understanding of the Fragas as a territory built over time through the symbiotic relationship between its environment and its community.

Agricultural and livestock activity forms part of the territorial identity of the Eume and continues to play an important role in landscape management. The presence of dairy, meat, honey and horticultural farms, as well as complementary activities, reflects a diverse and active productive base.

The project proposes working with an action group made up of farms from the five municipalities, incorporating diverse profiles in terms of productive orientation and experience. Through meetings, visits and working sessions, this group seeks to identify shared needs and define pilot projects capable of contributing effectively to the improvement of the sector, while also taking part in their implementation.

Possible lines of action include training aimed at specialisation; support for the diversification of commercialisation channels; the promotion of local products, focusing on quality, differentiation and territorial identity; as well as communication, food education and outreach with schools. The aim is to strengthen the connection between production and territory, making visible the role of farms in the active conservation of the landscape and exploring new ways of generating value around the products of the Eume.

This line of work is based on the idea that the conservation of a natural area does not depend solely on regulatory protection, but also on the continuity of sustainable productive activities capable of keeping the territory alive, cared for and economically active.

As a complement to the process of analysis and definition of pilot projects, an open call will be launched to activate new initiatives around the Fragas do Eume. The call will seek to support concrete, viable and action-oriented projects with the capacity to generate a positive, tangible and lasting impact on the territory.

The scope of the call will cover the five municipalities included in the Natural Park and will be open to individuals, businesses, cooperatives, associations, common land communities, educational centres, universities, public administrations and other organisations or groups. Priority will be given to proposals that contribute to the conservation and improved management of the territory, strengthen the role of the Natural Park as a strategic asset for local development and incorporate open models of collaboration between different agents.

The call may support projects related to architecture, mobility, the rehabilitation of spaces or infrastructure, economic and productive activity, the transformation and commercialisation of local resources, outreach, environmental education or citizen participation. Proposals focused exclusively on research, theoretical planning or the financing of running costs will be excluded, with priority given to concrete, action-oriented initiatives.