According to Álvaro Coimbra, Penacova municipality's mayor, the Penacova City Council has initiated the process for the ‘Livraria do Mondego’ to apply for a local protected area status as a natural monument. The candidacy for the protected status and the draft regulation for the management of the local natural monument, which was approved on 14 March, will be in public consultation for 30 days.

The ‘Livraria do Mondego’, which lies on the banks of the Mondego River and whose arrangement of rocks looks like an upright bookcase, is a geological monument that has been sculpted by time over 400 million years. As the president emphasized, “It has a high scientific, didactic, and landscape value. It is a rock that we understand needs to be valued and we think it is time to give ‘Livraria do Mondego’ its recognition”.

In response to Lusa's message, Álvaro Coimbra stated that the municipality plans to submit an application to the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) for the geosite, which was partially destroyed by the construction of the IP3 road, which connects Coimbra to Viseu, to be provided with “new visiting equipment, probably a crossing between the two banks, and preserve that entire area, namely by removing weedy species and reforesting with native species”.

The ‘Livraria do Mondego’ could have better access to funding as a way of increasing its awareness if it joins the ICNF's network of protected places under the natural monuments component, claims Álvaro Coimbra. Nonetheless, as the mayor has argued, there are still a few steps left in the process before the candidacy is officially announced.