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Protected areas of the Azores


The Protected Areas of the Azores (Portuguese: Rede Regional de Áreas Protegidas) are the basic administrative-territorial and conservation structures in the archipelago of the Azores and the surrounding oceans. The areas integrate the entirety of the Azores within its Exclusive Economic Zone, as well as the surrounding waters, under the international agreements and conventions. The network realizes the categorization of management for protected areas adopted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), adapting it to the specific geographical, environmental, cultural and political-administrative territory of the archipelago.

The first legal document identified to create a protected area in the Azores, was Decree 78/72 (7 March 1972), which created the Reserva Integral da Caldeira do Faial (Integrated Reserve of the Faial Caldera), which was closely followed by Decree 79/72 (8 March 1972), that established the Reserva Integral da Montanha da ilha do Pico (Integrated Reserve of the Mountain of the Island of Pico). After a hiatus of two years, Decree 152/74 (15 April 1974) was published that created on the island of São Miguel the Reserva da Lagoa do Fogo (Reserve of Lagoa do Fogo), which was subject to forestry service guidelines along its perimeter. These regulatory frameworks were in keeping with those establishing the National Park of Peneda-Gêres and other national reserves, resulting from the application of Decree 9/70 (19 June 1970) These laws, approved under the juridic regime of the Estado Novo government, occurred at a time when the Azores did not have its own political autonomy statute, and were the only interventions made by the central government in the protection of areas in the Azores.

The first regional/local measures to protect the environment were introduced by Regional Decree 12/77/A (14 June 1977), which established measures to protect the lakes, ravines and springs in the archipelago. The document, which was a pioneer at the time, included several rules to protect the environment and retroactively included older measures. The creation of the first protected area under this new regime established the Protected Landscape of Monte da Guia., and the first nature reserve, the Reserva Natural da Lagoa do Fogo (Nature Reserve of Lagoa do Fogo) under Regional Decree 10/82/A (18 June 1982), while the caldera on Faial and the mountain of Pico were reclassified.


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