The candidacy "A landscape of reference in Raia – A Herdade da Contenda", from the municipal company Herdade da Contenda, was chosen from 25 applications submitted to the jury by entities from all over the country and will therefore represent Portugal in the Landscape Prize of the Council of Europe.

"At a time when we are affirming the municipality of Moura as a diversified destination, the prize is a huge boost for Herdade da Contenda to have greater visibility not only nationally, but also internationally. It is an important recognition, among 25 excellent applications, for a unique and differentiating project", Alvaro Azedo, mayor of Moura, told Lusa.

Created in 2012, the National Landscape Award is an initiative of the Directorate-General of the Territory, which aims to distinguish who contributes, in Portugal, "to a more sustainable territorial development and promotes awareness of the importance of the landscape in quality of life”.

Herdade da Contenda is a "reference project for sustainable land use management," says a note from the municipality of Moura sent to Lusa agency, "inspiring the importance of the landscape as a resource and demonstrating how human interaction with natural systems can build, destroy and rebuild it."

According to Pedro Rocha, executive director of the municipal company Herdade da Contenda and responsible for the application, the project differs by being "probably the largest area in possession of a municipality", since it belongs to the municipality since 1893. "It is also the history of the recovery of a landscape by the forest services, which multiplies in different histories of the peoples and people who ensured that this was Portuguese. It is a border area with very specific characteristics, which takes the end of the Sierra Morena [of Spain] in its western part and has these characteristics of having a very differentiated landscape", explained Pedro Rocha to lusa agency.