In the design and development of all its activities and experiences, VERDEHESA, seeks:

• To put into practice the sustainable and transversal dimension of tourism within the green and circular economy, as a generator of employment and wealth, and especially of agrotourism as a dynamic segment of the agricultural and livestock sectors and the production of artisanal products, which also contributes to the conservation of biodiversity.
• To disseminate, enhance and, where appropriate, research and help to recover the natural, cultural and landscape heritage of Extremadura and especially the agrosilvopastoral system of the dehesa and the natural areas and villages in which it is located.
• Encourage contact with nature to raise awareness of the quality of Extremadura’s environment as a resource for physical and emotional well-being for all ages.
• Promote rural development acting as a catalyst for efforts to generate networking, collaboration and synergies between the agents of the Extremadura territory in an active and transformative way, promoting and inspiring citizen participation and innovation by developing activities that favor a positive transformation of the socio-economy of the community and its territory.
• Promote sustainable and healthy food and food sovereignty in rural Extremadura, highlighting the value of quality food products, of the producers who make them possible and of the places destined to preserve this gastronomic heritage.
• Promote the participation and give visibility to women in decision-making structures that affect the rural world (non-profit institutions, companies and local public services), as well as the promotion, impulse and effective achievement of equality between women and men in rural areas.
• To contribute to public awareness of the problems of Climate Change, promoting the development of mitigation and adaptation actions to address the threat of aridity, which will affect the regions of Extremadura.

• SINCERITY: with the customer and with the territory
• HONESTY: Consistent with its ideals and principles.
• ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY. Without renouncing economic profitability, VERDEHESA’s main objectives are sustainable tourism development.
• DIGITAL AND Spatial: Think digitally and act spatially.
• COOPERATION at different levels: company-company, company-Public Administration, and public-private projects.
• TRANSVERSALITY: Intersectoral work.
• PARTICIPATORY TOURISM GOVERNANCE. Promotes synergies and collaboration in the tourism ecosystem through COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE.
• INNOVATION: Quality and improvement, openness to change and training.
• GENDER. Recognition of the importance of the role of women.
• MULTIPLIER EFFECT: With VERDEHESA’s activity, we also seek to generate new business opportunities for other professionals and agents in the territory.

VERDEHESA is a Tourist Activities Company registered in the General Registry of Tourist Companies and Activities of the General Directorate of Tourism of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Regional Government of Extremadura under number OA-CC-00142. He is also registered as a Tourist Guide under number G-0007 and license number 00185-GT.

VERDEHESA is authorized to carry out professional tourism activities in the Monfragüe National Park under number. of file: SAT/PNM 16/010.

Verdehesa is the brand or trade name under which Álvaro Casanova operates as a tourism professional.

With a degree in Biology from Madrid and a postgraduate degree in Protected Natural Spaces, his professional career since 2004 has been mainly linked to non-profit institutions (Global Nature Foundation; Plasencia, Monfragüe, Trujillo and Territorial Biodiversity Consortium; Xavier de Salas Foundation, Extremadura Culture Foundation, etc.), as a technician or in coordination or management positions in charge of actions and projects of rural development, nature conservation, landscape protection, art and contemporary culture, cinema and audiovisual, development cooperation and social participation.

Since 2014 he has been working as a freelance professional collaborating with public administrations, private companies, academic institutions and NGOs, in the areas of communication, dissemination of cultural and natural heritage and tourism.

In 2016, it obtained official qualification as a Tourism Guide of the Autonomous Community of Extremaduraand that was the starting point for creating VERDEHESAhis own company to give back to the territory and its people the affection and hospitality received since he moved to Extremadura in 2004.

VERDEHESA is a commitment and a personal commitment to the sustainable and transversal dimension of tourism within the green and circular economy, as a generator of employment and wealth, and as an activity that contributes to the conservation of cultural and natural resources of universal value.