PROTECCIÓN Y GRAN PROPIEDAD EN SIERRA MORENA: EL PARQUE NATURAL DE LA SIERRA DE HORNACHUELOS (CÓRDOBA) COMO CASO EMBLEMÁTICO

Abstract

In a way recent natural protected areas expansion in Spain has been possible by the political will of declaring as those areas large mountain territories with majority private property; because of that it has taken place the appearance of an absolutely unusual -until the eighties- protection model in Spain. It is in this context where the Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park is a very representative example of association between protection and large private property. The repercussion of the Park declaration on private properties and their exploitation can be verified, in the same way that the limitations and difficulties of the environmental authorities in the face of the predominance (98 %) of this kind of properties. The historical permanence of large property in this territory, its great isolation and its hunting specialization from the beginning of the twentieth century are aspects that must be taken into account to value its high degree of conservation and its important place into the Sierra Morena Natural Areas system. Up to now this territory has been declared as Natural Park, Special Protection Area for Birds, Biosphere Reserve, and it will be declared soon as European Community of Interest Area.