These people want to create Portugal’s ecological utopia

A curious story of fires, Stone Age art, rural abandonment, and a mission to bring back an entire forest ecosystem.

I do love a good border crossing, so join me as I travel to Northeast Portugal, into the Coa River Valley, to witness a really interesting story that is unfolding there.

The dense old forests that were there are now mostly gone. Cut down and replaced with pastures for sheep and olive groves generations ago. And now the shepherds and other farmers are abandoning this region in droves. This checkered history has led to a poor economy, brush instead of trees and an explosion of wildfires.

You’ll get to meet some passionate, young biologists looking to change the landscape, like Pedro Prata:

“I see a great potential in this landscape to be a wildlife corridor,” Pedro tells me. “And if it is reinforced in the coming decades, I envision that we will have the movement of animals, the wildlife, the great migrations coming back as they did in the past. We have a chance here and the opportunity to bring that back.”

Rewild it, bring back the forest, ecosystems and wild animals, and create a new, healthy space for all. To create an ecological utopia in the Coa Valley of Portugal.

THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.

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