Ecotourist Commitment
Territory for sustainability
Biosphere Reserve
Ongi etorri to Urdaibai Basque Reserve, the only Biosphere Reserve in the Basque Country. Our home. Gure etxea. A space of coexistence for more than 14,000 years where you can experience the influence of nature on culture in all its intensity.
Urdaibai is clear, for tourism to be sustainable it must contribute to the protection of its natural and cultural heritage, and the socio-economic development of its local population. We take care of the present, to build the future.
For this reason, in 2019 it launched its adhesion to the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, thus becoming the first protected area in the Basque Country to be certified as a sustainable tourist destination.
Its wide variety of landscapes and environments have been shaped for centuries by the people who live in a perfect coexistence with nature. The philosophy of its inhabitants and a unique natural environment make this Biosphere Reserve an ecotourism destination of reference.
Its vocation to become a territory for sustainability allows a balance between the conservation and protection of its natural and cultural heritage, in addition to the sustainable development of its resources.
A balanced tourism model based on:
- Protection of natural and cultural heritage
- Involvement of local businesses
- The contribution to sustainable development, well-being and environmental health of the surroundings, thus contributing to the health of the local population.
- The responsibility of the tourist and tourism businesses.
- The experience of an educational experience of learning and interpretation of the environment visited.
- A very low consumption of non-renewable resources.
- Respect for the tourist reception capacity.