CONSERVATION AND ENJOYMENT OF SPANISH NATURE PARKS. A PROPOSAL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC USE

The great change in the management of protected areas over the last forty years has been a shift in focus from what happens within Park boundaries to what happens outside them but necessarily influences what goes on inside them. Once treated as treasures to be isolated and protected from all interference, the present consensus is that Nature Parks should be considered an integral part of the economic, ecological and social dimensions of the local area to which they belong. This research paper proposes a working model for Park managers and planners able to reconcile the need for conservation with sustainable development of the area. Public use and enjoyment of protected areas is not only compatible with conservation but is essential to both preservation and to integration of the Park into its local area. Making conservation compatible with traditional uses of resources and with public use and enjoyment, encouraging all the parties concerned to be involved in planning and decision-making, and inculcating a ‘culture of conservation’ may make the goal of preserving protected areas easier to attain.