Nature-Based Economy
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Increase number of nature-based jobs and enterprises
Improving
Greater Côa Valley
Portugal
Problem: In the Greater Côa Valley, as in many other areas of Europe, rural economies and societies have changed over recent decades. Younger generations have moved to urban areas to find better employment prospects, education, healthcare and social life, leading to a decline in the provision of rural goods and services and a lack of public and private investment. This has resulted in increasingly limited employment opportunities for local people.
Action: Rewilding Portugal is investing directly in the local economy and also supporting local enterprises with training and investment. The creation of the Wild Côa Network aims to build nature tourism in the region, providing support with marketing and access to new markets, and enabling client recommendations within the network.
Indicator: The number of enterprises joining the Wild Côa Network and the benefits that network members report that they receive indicate the effectiveness of Rewilding Portugal’s strategy to create a nature-based economy, provide alternative income from the natural landscape and create positive relationships with local communities.
Methods
The number of local enterprises joining the Wild Côa Network were recorded and reported annually.
In 2023, a survey of the members of the Wild Côa Network was carried out to assess their perceptions of the effects on their business of the work of Rewilding Portugal and their membership of the network.
Products produced by nature-based enterprises and members of the Wild Côa Network. Photo: Rewilding Portugal.
Nature-based tourism in the Faia Brava reserve. Photo: Rewilding Portugal.
Results
When the project got underway in 2019, the Wild Côa Network had not been set up and therefore there were no members. By the end of 2021 the network had 19 active members and by the end of 2023 the network had 43 members (Fig. 1), covering four different sectors (tour organisers, restaurants, accommodation providers and local products, Fig. 2) and nine municipalities in the landscape.
Figure 1: Increase in membership of the Wild Côa Network.
Figure 2: Composition of the Wild Côa Network membership across different sectors (data from 2023).
Thirty-eight of the 43 members of the Wild Côa Network took part in the survey carried out in September 2023. Most members responded that the creation of the Wild Côa Network had improved cooperation between members, with 37% members already receiving clients from other network members (Fig. 3).
Figure 3: Members of the network who received clients from other members of the network.
There was high support for the statement that Rewilding Portugal is important in socio-economic development of the region (Fig. 4), but more mixed support for the statements that joining the network had so far increased members’ turnover (Fig. 5), the demand for their services (Fig. 6) and their ability to reach new markets.
Figure 4: Responses to the statement on regional development. Responses are on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Figure 5: Responses to the statement on increased turnover. Responses are on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Figure 6: Responses to the statement on increased demand. Responses are on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Interpretation
The results of the survey demonstrate the important role that Rewilding Portugal and the Wild Côa Network are playing in the region, by increasing support for local enterprises, attracting investment and visitors, and enhancing communication (nationally and internationally) and cooperation between network members. Overall the results of the survey of network members were positive; the next steps will be to focus on improving the strength and value of the network, rather than increasing the number of members.
An example of Rewilding Portugal’s work to develop local communities and enterprises can be seen in the small village of Vilar Maior, close to the rewilding area of Vale Carapito. Local stakeholders have seen a new dynamic in the village since Rewilding Portugal started working here, with more tourists visiting and staying in the village’s accommodation and new companies expanding their work into the village.
As work to support local enterprises continues, it is expected that the economic impact will increase and social benefits will become clearer in the future.
Lessons learned
The survey-based assessment of the impact of the rewilding project on the natured-based economy was planned to be complemented with data from national datasets. However, the level of detail and low frequency of updates of these datasets, as well as the relatively small impact that is expected from the rewilding project compared to the entire local economy, would make it difficult to see shifts in these macroeconomic indicators. Therefore, the indicator methods shifted to focusing on results from direct surveys of enterprises in the project landscape.
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