The area of the mountain ranges of Montesinho and Coroa was chosen as NaturalPark for congregating conditions where the pleasant integration of man with the environment is visible. The MontesinhoNaturalPark was created in 1979, being one of the biggest protected areas of Portugal. With a surface of 75 000 hectares, it includes about 9 000 inhabitants distributed by 92 villages. It is constituted by a succession of mountains and valleys deeply incased, with altitudes varying between 438m and the 1481 m where the villages, nestled in sheltered and discrete points, pass easily unobserved to the eyes of the occasional visitor.
International Douro Natural Park includes the territories of towns such as Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Freixo de Espada á Cinta, Miranda do Douro and Mogadouro, totalizing na área of 85.150 hectares, and encloses the border of Rio Douro. The territory of Miranda of the Douro has the privilege to belong to this park, conferring even more value to it, for it is the habitat chosen by many animal species, also offering ideal conditions for proliferation of certain vegetal species. The landscape of Miranda do Douro’s territory is characterized by declivous walls of rock where Rio Douro assumes a structure of fluvial cannon thanks to its geomorphology. It acquires therefore geologic and climatic characteristics conditioning the vegetal and animal population. Avifauna acquires a significant importance on a national and International level and when associated to human activities and the local cultural heritage, all these conditions justify the denomination of this area as NaturalPark of the International Douro.