Protected Natural Spaces, Agrarian Specialization and the Survival of Rural Territories: The Cases of Sierra Nevada (Spain) and Alta Murgia (Italy)
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Protected spaces Production specialization Rural development Recovery of the territories Natural parks
Fecha
2022-07-27Referencia bibliográfica
Cejudo-García, E... [et al.]. Protected Natural Spaces, Agrarian Specialization and the Survival of Rural Territories: The Cases of Sierra Nevada (Spain) and Alta Murgia (Italy). Land 2022, 11, 1166. [https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081166]
Patrocinador
Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness, Research Project "Successes and failures in the practice of neo-endogenous rural development in the European Union (1991-2013), RURALWIN" CSO2017-89657-PResumen
In Europe today, there is increasing interest in the management of protected spaces, not only
in an attempt to ensure their conservation but also because of their enormous potential for promoting
rural development. These protected spaces are generally designed from the top down, although,
in an increasing number of cases, they are being promoted by rural communities themselves. The
situation across Europe with regard to protected areas is extraordinarily complex due, among other
reasons, to the variety of categories and types of protected areas at the regional level. The objective of
this study was to compare two parks: the Sierra Nevada National and Natural Park in Andalusia,
Spain, and the Alta Murgia National Park in Apulia, Italy, in order to identify any similarities and/or
differences between them. To this end, we performed a dynamic analysis of the evolution of the crops,
uses, and livestock species using a specific indicator that can detect local dynamics by comparing
areas inside the parks with those in the immediate surrounding areas. The results pointed, in part, to
a resurgence of these places. In both cases, a trend was observed towards more extensive farming
of certain crops and livestock species that are more profitable and/or more highly regarded as
quality products. In other cases, there was a risk of traditional crops and agricultural landscapes
being abandoned and lost. Various threats were identified in relation to capital-intensive forms of
agriculture, especially involving greenhouse cultivation on the Mediterranean coast in the provinces
of Granada and Almeria.