EU Sustainability Measures & Spain’s Protected Natural Areas

Posted on Apr 2, 2025 in Geography

EU Sustainability & Conservation Measures

European Union member states ratified the Kyoto Protocol. To achieve sustainable development, a series of measures can be implemented, including:

  • Environmental Education: A learning process to understand environmental realities, particularly deterioration, fostering environmentally respectful actions.
  • Responsible Consumption: Consuming rationally and choosing products produced sustainably, without labor exploitation (especially child labor).
  • Recycling and Reuse: Processing waste materials for new uses.
  • Ethical Banking: A banking model seeking not just economic profitability but also combining social and environmental objectives. It supports renewable energy projects and provides microloans, often focusing on women’s development.

Organic Farming

This cultivation system avoids genetically modified seeds and synthetic chemicals like artificial fertilizers or pesticides.

Protection and Conservation Policies

Protected Areas: Origins

The legal protection of natural areas dates back over 150 years, often traced to the creation of Yellowstone National Park in the Rocky Mountains, USA. Its primary goal was the complete protection of this vast wilderness. From the 19th century onwards, driven by urbanization and industrialization, protectionist and conservation ideas spread across developed nations.

Throughout the 20th century, the protection of natural areas evolved with the creation of new national parks and various designations under individual state laws.

Natura 2000 Network

A key European nature conservation initiative is the Natura 2000 network. Its main objective is to protect species and natural habitats while considering sustainable human activities.

Natura 2000 focuses on protecting:

  • Species of Community Interest: Including vulnerable or threatened species.
  • Habitats of Community Interest: Areas notable for their uniqueness, scarcity, or representation of European natural regions.
  • Priority Species and Habitats: Those facing the highest threat of disappearance.

Protected Areas in Spain

In Spain, the responsibility for protecting natural areas largely rests with the autonomous regions. The state provides a general framework, such as the Law of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity (2007). Protection categories generally include:

  • National Parks
  • Nature Parks
  • Nature Reserves
  • Natural Monuments
  • Protected Landscapes

Protected Areas in Catalonia

In 1985, the Catalan Parliament approved the Law on Natural Spaces (Llei d’Espais Naturals). This established the Plan for Spaces of Natural Interest (PEIN – Pla d’Espais d’Interès Natural). PEIN defines Catalonia’s protected natural areas, their boundaries, protection levels, and management. By 2008, Catalonia had 165 PEIN areas, covering approximately 30% of its territory.

These areas fall into categories including:

  • National Parks: e.g., Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park.
  • Nature Parks: e.g., Ebro Delta, Montserrat, Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac.
  • Sites of National Interest: e.g., Poblet Monastery surroundings.
  • Nature Reserves: e.g., Llobregat Delta partial reserves.
  • Marine Reserves: e.g., Medes Islands.