Drawing up of guidance for the incorporation of the intangible heritage into protected areas of Spain

The Work Plan for the Spanish Protected Areas 2009–2013, prepared by EUROPARC-Spain, included a line of work that promoted the recognition of the intangible cultural and spiritual values associated with protected natural areas. As well, this document identified a need to promote the incorporation of these values into the planning, management and promotion of these protected areas in response to various projects and strategies undertaken by the IUCN, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the EUROPARC Federation.

The principal aim of this project is to draw up a set of guidelines for the incorporation of elements of intangible heritage into the management of Spanish protected areas as a means, among other goals, of increasing the possibilities of success and support for the conservation of the natural heritage. This document is addressed to staff in charge of natural protected areas and other relevant bodies such as local conservation groups and cultural associations, and will form part of the collection of EUROPARC-Spain manuals.Specifically, the aims of this documents are:
– To define and characterize basic concepts relating to the value of immaterial heritage in order to establish a common language that can be used by all traditional custodians of protected natural areas and managers, planners and users.
– To recommend tried-and-trusted methods for diagnosing the value of an area’s intangible heritage.
– To provide a simple reference methodology for incorporating intangible values into different management areas.The manual will have three main chapters illustrated with examples:
– A description of the importance of intangible cultural and spiritual values in the management of protected areas, both at national and local levels.
– A methodology for the diagnosis of intangible heritage using data collection, methods of analysis and an identification of results.
– The description of the processes involved in incorporating intangible natural values into the development of a protected area, from its declaration, through its planning stages and as far as its evaluation.

The work carried out by the Delos Initiative (IUCN) and the Silene Association form the base of this manual. Silene will guide the Project and lead the work group that will be created to carry it out. It is hoped that the relevant administrative bodies that are in charge of the natural protected areas will also contribute actively both in the work group and in the two seminars planned for 2011 and 2012, as well as providing knowledge of specific case studies. Financial support for the Project has been obtained from the Obra Social de CatalunyaCaixa and the Cabildo de Tenerife.