Protected areas are a source of direct benefits for people. They offer opportunities for leisure, culture and physical and spiritual health, as all those who visit them are in contact with nature.

Protected areas are a source of direct benefits for people. They offer opportunities for leisure, culture and physical and spiritual health, as all those who visit them are in contact with nature.

The general objective of this project is to expose the existing socioeconomic development potentialities in protected areas. Specifically, the initiative will focus on activities in the primary sector and the tourism sector that take place in protected natural areas or Natura 2000 Network areas in Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid.

The project is structured in 3 lines of action:

Line 1: Diagnosis

– Identification and characterization of goods and services used by the primary sector and the tourism sector, which are directly related to the values of the protected area.
– Identification and characterization of the economic activities that use the above values.

Line 2: Integrate nature conservation and productive activities

– Identification of good sustainable practices or ecological production criteria.
– Training for the application of the above good practices or criteria.

Line 3: Enhancement of the identified goods and services

– Training for the creation of companies and marketing of products and services.
– Generation of synergies between all project participants.

The recipients of the project will be self-employed or workers of private entities (SMEs, associations, foundations, cooperatives…) from various sectors: primary sector, mainly agriculture or livestock; tourism sector: catering, accommodation, activities; sectors related to the management of natural spaces, the management of forest areas and environmental education and information.

The results of the project are:

• Training of 88 recipients, although the initiative will reach 318 workers.
• Creation of four companies dedicated to organic agriculture or livestock or sustainable tourism.
• Consolidation of ten companies linked to natural values of protected areas.
• Implementation of good sustainable practices.