The Peneda-Gerês National Park is a protected area in Portugal, with administrative, financial and legal capacity, created in 1971, in the environment of Peneda-Gerês.
It has a vast mountainous region, almost in its entirety already subject to the forest regime, the conservation of soil, water, flora, fauna and landscape.
The only National Park in Portuguese territory, it is located in the extreme northwest of Portugal, in the border area between Minho , Trás-os-Montes and the Galicia, and its territorial perimeter covers the entire vast forest territory that extends from the Serra da Peneda to the Serra do Gerês, hence its name, including Serra do Soajo and Serra Amarela. Being crossed by two great rivers, the Rio Lima and Cávado. Covers the districts of Braga (county of Lands of Bouro ), Viana do Castelo (county of Melgaço , Arches of Valdevez and Barca Bridge ) and Real Village (county of Montalegre ), in a total area of about 70,290 hectares, which affect the territory of 22 parishes. This Protected Area forms, since 1997, with the Spanish Natural Park of Baixa Limia - Serra do Xurés, the Gerês-Xurés Transfrontier Park and the Biosphere Reserve with the same name.
The Peneda-Gerês National Park is considered by the UNESCO like World Biosphere Reserve .
It is one of the greatest natural attractions in Portugal, due to the rare and impressive landscape beauty, ecological and ethnographic value and variety of fauna ( Iberian goats, bucks , garanos , wolves , birds of prey ) and flora (pine, yew, chestnut, oak and various medicinal plants).