Portugal is set to create a vast new marine reserve, the Madeira–Tore and Gorringe Bank Marine Nature Reserve, covering around 200,000 square kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean between Sagres and Madeira. The move will allow the country to reach its target of protecting 30% of its marine area by 2026, four years ahead of the EU’s 2030 deadline.
Announcing the initiative, Environment and Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho hailed the project as a landmark for both conservation and the economy.
“It is extremely beneficial for the environment, nature and biodiversity, but also for the sustainability of fisheries, because these are true fish nurseries,” she told reporters.
The reserve will encompass the entire complex of seamounts and abyssal plains stretching from Cape St Vincent, in the Algarve, to the Madeira archipelago, including interestingly-named underwater formations such as Tore, Sponge-Bob, Toblerone Ridge, Josephine, and Ampère.
A joint order from the Ministries of Environment, Energy, and Agriculture and Fisheries, together with the Regional Government of Madeira, was published today, launching the legal and technical procedures required for classification. These are expected to be completed by 10 December, followed by a public consultation period. The government anticipates the reserve will be formally established in 2026.
Secretary of State for Fisheries and the Sea Salvador Malheiro highlighted the wider economic benefits of the initiative:
“This will also bring added value for recreational boating and diving, all of which contribute to our blue economy. The maritime economy already represents 5% of our GDP, but with initiatives like this we can boost that figure significantly.”
Once the 30% protection milestone is reached, the government plans to focus on a further goal: ensuring 10% of Portuguese waters are fully protected.
“At the moment we are still at a low level, around 2% or 3%, because it takes longer to identify those fully protected zones,” the minister explained. “But that will be our next ambition.”
On management and oversight, Carvalho cited recent efforts in the Pedra do Valado Marine Park in the Algarve and the Azores Network of Marine Protected Areas, stressing that these projects require close cooperation between national and regional authorities.
“We have monitoring obligations at both the state and regional level. We’ll comply fully with the rules, but we also need to pay attention to foreign vessels operating in these waters. Vigilance is crucial in a protected zone,” she noted.
Before presenting the new marine reserve, Carvalho met with Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition.
Following the meeting, both officials reaffirmed the EU’s new climate goals for 2040, which include a 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels, as a key milestone towards climate neutrality by 2050.
“It’s a balanced proposal,” Ribera said, describing the EU’s approach as “pragmatic and flexible.”
Carvalho added that Portugal hopes to meet part of its 2040 target through international carbon credits between 2036 and 2040, up to 3% of the EU’s 1990 emissions, and argued that counting should begin earlier, in 2031, with a higher limit of 5%.
“For us, timing is crucial,” she explained. “Portugal has several investments in third-party countries, such as debt-for-nature swaps with Cape Verde, and soon with São Tomé and Príncipe, and we’d very much like those to start being counted from 2031.”
