Adaptation of companies to the green economy
In the wine sector, the treatment of vines is conditioned by products compatible with the environment. Circularity will also be relevant, linked to by-products and the possibility of generating energy with the remains of the vines, among others. In the sector of crops and ornamental plants, conditions are similar to the previous ones.
For forestry, an emerging activity in the territory, the treatment of trees, the choice of species and the models of exploitation, have as their biggest challenge the adaptation to the great fires.
For fisheries, the conservation of resource stocks, both at sea and in the river, and the combination with the protection of biodiversity, are issues to be addressed immediately. The effect of pollution, and of the dams in the case of Minho, harmed the natural conditions of the waters and life in them.
For the extraction of granite and ornamental rock, the sustainability criteria are higher, as they affect an activity on non-renewable resources. The rehabilitation of the quarries, the optimization of the exploitation of the resource and the treatment of waste are part of the most immediate challenges.
The research work carried out in recent years, among others, by the EGTC Rio Minho, CIM Minho and the Provincial Council of Pontevedra, highlight the relevance of the territory's endogenous resources, namely natural ones, as a development factor. In particular, the food value chain, based on territorial resources, is one of the most relevant sources of employment and income. Its valorization, through the productive integration of the Rio Minho EGTC as a whole, and the creation of conditions for the sustainability of this wealth (river and sea fishing, vineyards, orchards, wood...), will be a fundamental factor for sustainable development. of the common area.