Environment submits eighth biosphere reserve to public consultation

The Department of Environment and Climate Change has opened a month of public information regarding the proposal for Galicia’s eighth biosphere reserve. The decision was adopted by the General Directorate of Natural Heritage in an announcement signed on October 15 by its general director, María Sol Díaz Mouteira, and published in the Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG no. 199, of October 20, 2026, p. 53146). The deadline for submissions ends on November 20.

The procedure is based on article 16.1.a) of Law 27/2006, of July 18, which regulates the rights of access to information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental matters. This regulation requires administrations to inform the public, through notices or electronic means, of any proposed plans, programs, or general provisions related to the environment before processing them.

The text of the proposal can be consulted throughout the period at the link for public information procedures on the Transparency Portal of the Xunta de Galicia. The announcement does not detail in its articles the municipalities that would integrate the new protection figure nor the affected area, data which are referred to the documentation displayed on that portal.

A one-month deadline and two channels for submissions

Interested parties have one month from the day following the publication of the announcement, that is, until November 20, 2026, to present observations. The agreement establishes two channels:

• Preferably, by email to the address dxpn.medioambiente@xunta.gal.
• Alternatively, by means of a written document addressed to the Technical General Secretariat of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, at any of the places provided for in article 16.4 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the common administrative procedure.

The consultation of the documentation and the presentation of submissions are free of charge and do not require accreditation of interested party status in the procedure, according to the general formula of the environmental participation legislation invoked in the announcement.

Eight reserves and a network with its own funding

Galicia already has a consolidated network of biosphere reserves that receives specific budgetary support from the same general directorate. The Resolution of August 7, 2026, published in DOG no. 159 of August 24, details the grants awarded under the Order of December 30, 2025 (procedure code MT814B), with a credit of 1,870,000 euros co-financed by the EAFRD within the framework of the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.

Within this, line 1 —specifically intended for actions in Galicia’s biosphere reserves— amounts to 100,000 euros. Among the beneficiaries are the Provincial Council of Lugo, for actions in the Os Ancares Lucenses and Terras do Miño reserves, and the Association for the Sustainable Development of the Rural Environment of the Área de Allariz Biosphere Reserve, which groups the four municipalities of that reserve.

The list of projects in that resolution confirms the presence of other figures in the Galician territory, such as the transboundary biosphere reserve Gerês-Xurés, with interventions in the municipality of Muíños, and the Mariñas Coruñesas and Betanzos reserve.

Territory, agriculture and tourism

The impact of the new declaration goes beyond conservation. Biosphere reserves are also the framework for tourism sustainability plans funded with European funds: the Tourism Agency of Galicia published in DOG no. 172, of September 10, 2026, the second addendum to the agreement with the As Mariñas Betanzos Rural Development Association for the Tourism Sustainability Plan in the destination of the Mariñas Coruñesas Biosphere Reserve, signed on May 5, 2026.

In these territories, agricultural, livestock, and forestry uses coexist with environmental protection, which is why the public information phase is the regulatory moment in which municipalities, mountain communities, agricultural holdings, and the tourism sector can state their position in writing before the Xunta closes the file and submits it to international bodies.

The declaration of a biosphere reserve does not imply a regime of prohibitions equivalent to that of a natural park, but rather a zoning model with core, buffer, and transition areas, although the announcement does not specify the zoning proposal for this eighth figure.

The calendar is relevant for the municipalities aspiring to enter the network: once the period for allegations is closed, the department must evaluate the contributions received and continue the processing of the proposal. For the residents and economic sectors of the affected municipalities, the month opened this Tuesday is the only formal opportunity to influence the final design of the reserve.

Source: Official Gazette of Galicia, no. 199, October 20, 2026, section VI (Announcements), p. 53146 (official reference: 4io4ckr8-e725-py60-l8u5-sy8abgghz6y1).