To grow and continue generating wealth in its surroundings. This is the great challenge of the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, Catalonia's only national park, declared in 1955, the highest distinction for a natural area. In March of last year, the Department of Territory and Sustainability began the administrative process to expand the park's current area of 14,119 hectares by at least 5,000 hectares. “The request from the territory itself, its natural values, and its role as a driver of socioeconomic development justify its expansion,” explained Marta Subirà, Director General of Environmental Policies for the Catalan Government. Currently, the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park encompasses four counties (Alta Ribagorça, Pallars Jussà, Val d'Aran, and Pallars Sobirà) and ten municipalities, with an approximate population of 15,000 inhabitants, mostly employed in the service sector. “Along with the area’s cultural heritage, the park is the main driving force as a tourist attraction,” Subirà points out. “It is nature in its wild state, a landscape untouched by human intervention, and the entire area that could be incorporated into the park already possesses this natural heritage value.” Including it under the park's protection will mean giving it official recognition, and for that we have the most important thing: the enthusiasm of the local community and the natural values of the area being considered for inclusion,” adds the Director of Environmental Policies. Currently, the Generalitat is reaching a consensus on the boundaries of the expansion with the affected municipalities. “Our aim is to finalize an initial, agreed-upon proposal during this legislative term,” Subirà estimates.
The expansion process includes its approval in Parliament and by the Council of Ministers of the central government, since Aigüestortes, as a national park, is part of the National Parks Network.
AFFECTED MUNICIPALITIES
The municipalities in Pallars Sobirà involved in the expansion are Sort, Rialp, and La Guingueta d'Àneu, and in Pallars Jussà, La Torre de Cabdella. Extensive livestock farming is practically the only activity permitted by the protection of a national park. Even so, the region values the promotion that the highest recognition as a natural heritage site brings to part of its municipality above the loss of other activities. "We are interested. For the Àssua Valley, access to the park from the municipality of Sort is, right now, the only guarantee of prosperity," says the mayor of Sort, Llàtzer Sibís. "But it is essential to safeguard the traditional activities on Llessui Mountain, where about ten flocks graze," Sibís adds. The old school building in Llessui houses the Shepherd's Museum and an information point and entrance to the national park, "although the promotion of this access point is still not enough," notes the mayor. On the other side of the mountain, at the Boí Park Visitor Center (Alta Ribagorça), the director of the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, Mercè Aniz, also advocates for expansion. "Protecting the territory is key to the conservation of certain species and habitats, and this is not incompatible with traditional livestock farming, which has been present here since the Bronze Age," Aniz states.
CARME ESCALES / EspotSource: elPeriódico.com
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