The general objective of the CARISMA project is to carry out a series of actions to maintain and improve the ecological status of the Laboreiro and Trancoso rivers (as well as their surroundings), as cross-border rivers located in protected areas, with the purpose of declaring them international fluvial reserves. To that end, the following specific objectives have been defined:

Specific objectives

• 1. To develop the necessary steps to preserve the environmental and chemical quality parameters established in art. 8 of the DMA (Water Framework Directive) with quality preservation objectives on both sides of the border.
• 2. To carry out the necessary steps to monitor and hydraulically control the flow of water in these rivers.
• 3.To implement the necessary technical solutions to obtain data regarding the quality or quantity of water in both rivers simultaneously on both sides of the border.
• 4. To establish measures to preserve the biodiversity of the fluvial ecosystems.
• 5. To establish the means to reconcile the environmental conservation of the areas adjacent to the Trancoso and Laboreiro rivers with their use and enjoyment by the local population.
• 6. To bring to the visitor's attention the environmental and ethnographic heritage of the natural surroundings in which the Trancoso river and the Laboreiro river are located.

International River Reserve

The preservation strategy for the Trancoso river and the Laboreiro river has enabled both of them to be included in the Management Plans of the Hydrographic Region of Portugal and Spain as bodies of water that can be declared Nature River Reserves.

In this context, one of the most notable objectives of the Carisma project is the utilization of both rivers as points of reference within the aims established in the Water Framework Directive, with the goal of declaring them International River Nature Reserves. This would be the first of its kind in Europe.