European sustainable development rural actor database

The Natural Park of the Volcanic Zone of la Garrotxa is a protected area of about 12.000 ha, a highly man-made environment, and with great geological, botanical and landscape values.

The perimeter of the Natural Park surrounds an area of about 12,000 hectares excluding the urban areas and areas that may be urbanised inside it. The whole area belongs to La Garrotxa and consists of 11 towns. Although the urban areas do not administratively belong to the Park area, the impact of urban surroundings is obvious. On the other hand, more than 650 dwellings have been registered in the Natural Park, though about 100 are uninhabited.

Park agricultural areas currently cover about 3,300 hectares, the equivalent of 26% of the extension of the volcanic area and 36% of all of the agricultural land of the area. Today, the number of farms in the park is about 430.

Wooded forests occupy 65% of the Natural Park, with predominance of autochthonous forests (holm-oak woods, beech woods, oak woods...), while secondary forest formations (pinewoods, chestnut groves) and groves only make up, as a whole, 2% of the wooded land

To finish with this overall approach of the Park, the economic and territorial development of la Garrotxa area from 1960 to today is characterised by 4 tendencies:

- Concentration of population

- Intensification of agriculture and cattle raising

- Non programmed urbanisation and industrialisation

- Service centralisation

This kind of development is based on productiveness and intensification, and it has had a strong repercussion on the Natural Park.

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Documentation centre

Protecting landscapes and livelihoods