Resumen de The multi-functionality of the Douro landscapes, one of the strategies for its sustainability
The Douro Demarcated Region is a symbolic and privileged area where several high quality wines are produced, particularly Port Wine, but also a landscape combination that reflects the interaction of nature with human activity. The area covers 250,000 hectares, with numerous terraces laden with vineyards climbing up the steep Douro River slopes and its main tributaries, offering a most attractive landscape partially classified in December 2001 as World Heritage. With the Douro River as the landscape's structuring element, the Douro Demarcated Region shows, nevertheless, a great diversity of land use possibilities, and this is why it is divided into three sub-regions: a more western region - the Lower Corgo (Baixo Corgo) with some of the most important regional urban centres, followed by the Upper Corgo (Cima Corgo) and a far eastern area, bordering Spain, the Higher Douro (Douro Superior).Although extremely attractive, this region has major problems which have to be solved. Particularly noteworthy is the (dis)orderly expansion of the vineyards, resulting in excessive production, an ageing workforce in decline, and particularly the inadequate land structure of the agricultural farmsteads. In effect, the small family properties predominate in the landsca- pe, with over 65% of farmsteads having less than one hectare in area. This situation is more common in the Lower Corgo, a sub-region which is the «cradle of the Douro wine sector, where the Cambres parish is located, a clear example of these settings.Cambres is a parish of the Lamego municipality which in 2001 had a population of 2,651 and high ageing rate, especially among wine farmers. Younger people have gradually found other more satisfactory activities in both financial and social terms, yet they still help out with the work on the family farmsteads. This dual activity and multiple sources of income sustain Wine sector and, consequently, guarantee the preservation of this heritage.This paper thus addresses issues such as what strategic efforts have been implemented in Cambres to increase local and regional competition and, in a joint effort, to develop the sustainability of these landscapes and their heritage value? We will see that a number of ventures have been undertaken, yet there is still a pressing need to actively involve the diversity of local actors, and provide information, training and coordination to residents, and particularly to the projects that are beginning to surface.
