Do you intend to protect natural resources?

1997/10/01 Bengoa Ansa, Aitor Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Nekazaritza

In Euskal Herria the word Natural Park has gone from being unknown in a short time to being within that denomination our domestic environment, but there are ways and ways to carry out this process with time and properly. If not, we can go right against what we want to achieve. In other words, if we observe that an environment is rich in natural resources and it is necessary to establish protection measures, we must first work intensively with the sectors that have maintained these resources so that they also participate directly. After this long process comes the second debate: Why the name of the Natural Park? Protecting the Natural Resources of the environment? To turn this environment into a "claim" of visitors? Or to do both at once? There we are.

The truth is that the Natural Resources Management is essential in any territory, not only in the Natural Parks, and that serious management is pending in Euskal Herria. But let's go to our topic. In the Natural Parks currently declared in the Basque Country and in which its declaration is intended, the interest of meeting the two aforementioned objectives is clearly appreciated (protecting the Natural Resources and enabling them for public use), although, when informing the public, the only objective that is pursued is to protect its natural resources. However, the opposite is clearly evident in daily activity, that is, public use is placed before traditional uses. This can pass a long-term bill to our people, shortening the duration of Natural Resources.

We must be clear that the basic activity of the declared Natural Parks is fundamentally agricultural, livestock and forestry, and we must also be clear that the situation of these primary sectors is very bad, since agriculture is concentrating in very specific areas. In view of this, my question is, do we want to maintain the activities mentioned in these environments? If the answer is yes, we bet on an agriculture compatible with the environment, with what it means; otherwise, the baserritarras and its inhabitants will focus on service activities. In favor of this model of agriculture we must not only act in the areas of the Natural Parks, but throughout the territory. Otherwise, the Natural Parks will have 10 isolated islands of the Basque Country whose real objective is the protection of Natural Resources.

Marta AgirrezabalBiologist and Farmer Consultant