BioPyrenees: forest bioeconomy for ecosystem, socioeconomic and cultural resilience in the Pyrenees
PRTR Call for Proposals Project
The project aims to promote actions that can lay the foundations for sustainable development in mountain ecosystems through the implementation of a demonstrative, scalable, replicable and successful model of bioeconomy in the Natural Park of the Western Valleys in Huesca and its area of influence. The aim is to implement a sustainable forest management model, together with fire prevention, evaluating the possibilities of using forest resources; the optimization of extensive livestock practices and the recovery of high mountain pastures; the sustainability and diversification of ecotourism activities with emphasis on the participation of women; the creation of stable employment and demographic repopulation; and the search for economic profitability supported by the retribution of environmental services -particularly CO2 capture and water regulation- by the beneficiaries of the project; the creation of stable employment and demographic repopulation; and the search for economic profitability supported by the retribution of environmental services -particularly CO2 capture and water regulation- by the beneficiaries of downstream companies and municipalities.
Line of action:
Terrestrial ecosystemsStatus:
En ejecuciónLocation:
Huesca (Aragon)Geographic scope:
EspañaExecution date:
2024Duration:
09/02/2024 - 31/12/2025Typology:
Development and diversification of forestry uses and harvestsTotal budget:
1,511,303.25 eurosAmount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:
1,435,738.09 euros (95%)Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE) - State Agency of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Center for Agri-Food Research and Technology of Aragon (CITA)
ECO-UNION
Traditionally, mountain territories have subsisted through a few ancestral economic activities (forestry and livestock), to which tourism has been added in recent decades. However, the social and economic model of recent decades has facilitated rural depopulation and the loss of the value of natural resources and ecosystem services, resulting in a fragile situation for the rural territory as a whole.
In the current context of demographic challenge and climate change, it is essential to recover traditional economic activities – respectful of the environment and native species, since employment derives directly from their proper conservation, management and exploitation – and to promote new solutions that are improving, innovative and sustainable over time.
The project aims to investigate the management practices of natural services and resources in the Aragonese Pyrenees, identifying opportunities for conservation and employment, in order to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of the local economy, based on traditional practices and the effective valuation of ecosystem services, through a pilot case in the municipalities of Aísa, Ansó, Aragües, Borau, Canal de Berdún, Valle de Hecho and Jasa, including the Western Valleys Natural Park.
- Compatibility of pasture demand and supply through a Management Plan.
- Maximize returns from forest areas in a context of sustainable exploitation.
- Promote the supply of forest products and the continued demand by facilitating the installation of pellet boilers.
- Promote employment in local livestock farming by recovering pastures and optimizing livestock stocking rates.
- Define and value the regulating ecosystem services and the influence of activities on them.
- Study the feasibility of commercializing ecosystem services and propose transfer mechanisms.
- Socioeconomic and tourism diagnosis and implementation of a pilot test to achieve sustainable tourism development in the region.
- Implement an Adaptive Management Plan that integrates the different actions of the project.
- Replicability and scalability.
BioPyrenees: forest bioeconomy for ecosystem, socioeconomic and cultural resilience in the Pyrenees
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