The Special Protection Zone of Ria de Aveiro, PTZPE0004, is located at the most western part of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly at the Central/Northern Atlantic coast of Portugal. It has an area of over 50.000 ha, with a marine area of over 20.000 ha and is distributed over several municipalities of the Baixo Vouga region, extending from the coast to the inland plains. Along the area, natural and semi-natural habitats are interspersed with agricultural and built-up areas, creating an interesting and highly diverse mosaic of distinct habitats. It is one of the most important wetlands in Portugal, sheltering a great diversity of halophilous and sub-halophilous plant communities in an extensive estuarine area, with the occurrence of estuarine habitats, salt marshes, salt pans, significant areas of reed beds but also important dune systems and agricultural areas.

Ria de Aveiro has a typical Mediterranean climate, with influence from the Atlantic Ocean and from Ria itself. Considering the great geographical variety of the territory, especially in terms of habitats, there are remarkable landscape diversity of the territory.