Terras do Miño–Serra do Xistral has been included in Wetlands International's list of globally significant landscapes (Global Flagship Landscape).
The GEMAP–CISPAC/USC team, with the participation of CIREF, promoted this nomination within the framework of the European project SpongeBoost (Horizon Europe), placing Galician peatlands on the global map of wetland conservation.
Santiago de Compostela, 10 February 2026
The Terras do Miño Biosphere Reserve, and particularly the peatlands of the Serra do Xistral, has joined the Global Flagship Landscapes network promoted by Wetlands International (https://www.wetlands.org/publication/wetlands-for-life-2026-35/), a leading global organization in wetland conservation and restoration. This international milestone reinforces the role of Atlantic peatlands in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula as unique and strategic ecosystems for biodiversity, hydrological regulation and climate action.
The initiative was scientifically led by Professor Xabier Pontevedra Pombal and members of GEMAP–CISPAC/USC and CIREF (https://cirefluvial.com/), and was developed in the context of SpongeBoost (https://spongeboost.eu/), a Horizon Europe project that seeks to scale up the “sponge” function of freshwater ecosystems and soils: retaining water in the landscape, buffering hydrological extremes and generating multiple benefits for society and nature through nature-based solutions. The work currently being carried out is also framed within Aniela Stachnik-Pérez’s doctoral thesis, supervised by Professors Xabier Pontevedra Pombal (Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry) and Horacio García (Department of Geography) at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), entitled “Hydrological assessment of the sponge function of the Xistral Mountains' peatlands for developing sustainable management strategies”.
A large-scale and highly diverse biosphere area
Terras do Miño was designated a Biosphere Reserve in 2002 and covers 363,668.9 ha and 26 municipalities in the upper basin of the Miño River. Its territory includes Natura 2000 sites, among them the Serra do Xistral SAC (22,964 ha), which hosts a remarkable complex of wet heaths and the main core of peatlands in southern Europe.
What being a Global Flagship Landscape entails
Under the global strategy Wetlands for Life (2026–2035), Wetlands International aims to strengthen its work in 12 flagship landscapes as demonstration territories where wetland action can accelerate transformative change. The organization highlights that wetlands provide ecosystem services of very high economic value, despite having suffered significant global losses since the beginning of the 20th century.
For Terras do Miño–Serra do Xistral, the only European territory in this network, the recognition brings international visibility, greater capacity for technical cooperation and momentum for monitoring and restoration projects. However, it also entails responsibility: maintaining the hydrological integrity of peatlands, preventing degradation and demonstrating measurable conservation and ecological improvement outcomes.
“This recognition reinforces USC’s role and responsibility in science applied to conservation: peatlands are natural infrastructures for water, climate and biodiversity, and their protection is a shared priority with society and public administrations.”
About SpongeBoost
SpongeBoost is a Horizon Europe project with an international consortium that is developing a roadmap and recommendations to increase or restore natural water retention across landscapes, aligned with European policies on climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation.
