> The area of the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Vicentina Coast was the chosen region in Portugal for a case study for international research project Openness

The area of the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Vicentina Coast was the chosen region in Portugal for a case study for international research project Openness - Operationalization of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services, which aims to create practical solutions to inte-grate ecosystem services in management and planning of the territory.

The openness of the project consortium includes 35 part-ners, including 10 SMEs from 14 European countries and four non-European. The CENSE, Research Centre for Environment and Sustainability, FCT-New University of Lisbon, is the partner of openness in Portugal. To frame the project in the study area and set lines of action, an Advisory Board, which includes a number of key players in the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentina Coast region was formed.

To frame the project in this study area is and set guide-lines for action, an Advisory Board was created in which includes a number of key stakeholders in the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentina Coast region.

The intention of this project is that themanagement of economic activities and the definition of public policies integrate the concepts of ecosystems and natural capital services. This is because, biodiversity functionality is re-flected in the ecosystem processes that produce goods and services for humans, such as: minimizing soil ero-sion; regulating the climate; pollinate crops and balance the water cycle, among many other functions.

LIFE CHARCOS Project was represented at this work-shop by technicians LPN in order to deepen the knowledge about ecosystem services from the perspec-tive of its application in the definition of temporary ponds conservation strategies that are present in the Natural Park.

The LIFE CHARCOS Project will also conduct a survey of ecosystem services that it provides, so this exchange it is of great relevance.