The dossier of candidature of the island of Flores to Reserve of the Biosphere was delivered on Tuesday, in Lisbon, to the UNESCO, entity that will have to appreciate the process next months; it announced the office of the regional secretary for the Environment and the Sea.

The document is constituted by a dossier with more than 200 pages and by a CD containing detailed cartographical information.

The candidature was prepared along the last year, having the Government of the Azores promoted a session of prior presentation in the island of Flores, as well as a period of public consultation that lasted around a month.

Besides the justification letters of the president of the Government and of support of the presidents of two town councils of the island of Flores, the candidature also reckons with the formal support of great part of the areas pertaining to the Redbios (East Atlantic Network of the Reserves of the Biosphere).

If this proposal is accepted, the Azores will start having three Reserves of the Biosphere, since the islands Corvo and Graciosa already obtained this distinction.

The regional secretary for the Environment and the Sea believes that, with areas classified at the highest level (Humankind Heritage, Reserve of the Biosphere and Ramsar Convention), we are “contributing to guarantee the opportunities of sustainable development that the archipelago of the Azores needs”.

As part of the dynamization program of the candidatures of the Reserves of the Biosphere of the Azores, an activity was recently effectuated in the island of Graciosa, being foreseen, for the beginning of this month a second session in the island of Corvo.

Soon, the candidature books of the “Geopark of the Azores” will still be presented.