Andalusia is owner of the largest European preser-
ved nature areas. These account for 244 zones (2.8
million hectares), 30% of the region’s total surface.
Such a network depicts an exceptional natural and
cultural heritage.
The Natural Parks are among these protected
spaces (an 85%) due to the natural diversity and
the purpose of embracing preservation, natural
resources and life quality in the surroundings. The
economic, environmental and social aspects ask for
the implementation of a sustainable development
action. Rather than wildlife reserves, the Natural
Parks in Andalusia are areas built up by human ac-
tion throughout history. Thanks to human interven-
tion, these areas have been developed for centuries.
The 1987 World Commission Environmental Re-
port on the Environment and its Development, ‘Our
Common Future’, set the guidelines for the creation
of Natural Parks. And this is why sustainable deve-
lopment is their driving force.
On the other hand, the major changes in the eco-
nomic system which have taken place throughout
the last 150 years, from the first to the fourth indus-
trial revolutions, have been an obstacle for the acti-
vities which the ecologic system balance has always
depended on. Many of them have had to be replaced
by an active management of the land which, among
other actions, led to the creation of the Natural
Parks network. If local mountain clearance used to
supply people with cooking and heating resources,
nowadays it is necessary to undertake forest action
Parques Naturales
Un laboratorio para el desarrollo sostenible
Antonio Luna del Barco
Agencia de Medio Ambiente
y Agua de Andalucía
42
OTWO 06 / JANUARY 2020
43