 Popular in the summer with tourists and local visitors, the beaches have suffered from erosion in recent years; several levels of Portuguese government have taken steps to reduce these patterns, but the erosion has continued at several of the beaches located closest to the mouth of the Tagus.Portugal is bisected by geological and geomorphological landscapes of important interest, both for its scientific and natural appeal, such as the "Costa da Caparica Fossil Cliff Protected Landscape" (), a prehistoric beach landscape near Terras da Costa, that consist of intricately carved cliffs and erosional deposits, intersected by ravines and clifftops covered in vegetation.Its relative proximity to urban development and sprawl, coupled with progressive deterioration resulted in the 22 May 1984 decree-law 168/84 that constituted the "Paisagem Protegida" with the hope of preserving the geomorphological characteristics and the natural communities that existed within the territory, promoting a balance between the biology and landscape.