National Park of Geres

The Peneda-Gerês National Park is located in the Norte region, in the northwest of Portugal, specifically in the districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga, and Vila Real.

The park was created on 8 May 1971 due to its national and international scientific interest, with the aim to protect the soil, water, flora, fauna, and landscape, while preserving its value to the existent human and natural resources.

Probably, because the Gerês mountains are a inhospitable place, the oldest signs of human presence date only from 6000 B.C. to 3000 B.C.; dolmens and other megalithic tombs remain interspersed within the region, including near Castro Laboreiro and Mourela.

Human activities consisted of animal husbandry and incipient agriculture, and archaeological evidence points to the beginning of decrease in forest cover.

The Roman Geira, a Roman road, crosses the region, which formerly connected the Roman civitas of Asturgia and Braccara Augusta. Long stretches of the road, along the Homem River are still preserved, along with several Roman bridges and numerous millenarium markers.

The Germanic tribe of the Buri accompanied the Suebi in their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and establishment in Gallaecia (modern northernPortugal and Galicia). The Buri settled in the region between the Cávado and Homem Rivers, in the area later known as Terras de Bouro (Land of the Buri). The move from the terraced cliffs and slopes to the lowland river valleys brought-on a patterned of new deforestation.