Throughout the autumn of 2022, tourism businesses located in the 9 Local Action Groups (LAGs) participating in the Cooperation Project “Ecotourism in the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla – La Mancha”, of which the Spanish Ecotourism Association is a partner, will receive training and support to create ecotourism experiences in nine areas of the Natura 2000 Network.
Getting to know, exploring, enjoying, learning and appreciating the Natura 2000 Network are the motivations behind the ecotourism experiences in Castile-La Mancha, which will include guided visits to natural areas and their public facilities, environmental education activities, active tourism activities and accommodation. The tourism enterprises that will participate in the training are those that are adhering to the “System for the Recognition of Tourism Sustainability in the Natura 2000 Network” by applying good environmental practices and informing visitors and tourists about the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla-La Mancha and its benefits.
As this is a bottom-up project, with a comprehensive approach, linked to the Ecotourism Club in Spain, so that the results of the cooperation project have continuity, the ecotourism product and experiences that will be designed as a result of this training will be incorporated, in the future, into the offer of destinations and experiences of the Ecotourism Club in Spain to support its promotion at national and international level. These experiences will undoubtedly improve the use of natural and cultural heritage, positively influencing the economy of the participating territories.
The advisory process includes two types of training. The first consists of a training day aimed at tourism companies in each of the participating areas and RDGs/LAGs, in which they will work in a practical way to generate ecotourism experiences configured by grouping the services of the participating companies. After the workshops, technical advice will be available to configure the experiences in formats that can be promoted through the cooperation project website www.soyecoturistaclm.com.
The second part of the process will consist of a workshop with the local actors involved in tourism management in each of the 9 counties participating in the cooperation project. Work will be carried out with the rural development technicians, the managers of the Natura 2000 Network sites and with the actors involved in tourism development to agree on how to differentiate and give visibility to the companies that make up the Ecotourism product in the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla-La Mancha, and how to improve the tourism management of these protected areas.
The project “Ecotourism in the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla-La Mancha”
This project “Ecotourism in the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla-La Mancha” covers a total area of 33,950 km2, and includes 294 municipalities with a total of 325,419 inhabitants. It is representative of the landscape diversity of the Autonomous Community (high and medium mountains, canyons, Mediterranean forests, meadows, steppes, wetlands, cereal crops and rivers) and includes 78% of the SACs of Castilla-La Mancha and 72% of all the Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs). Thanks to it, more than 70% of the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla-La Mancha can be regulated by a System for the recognition of tourism sustainability in the Natura 2000 Network, with an innovative, demonstrative and exportable character.
It is coordinated by the Local Action Group Valle de Alcudia (Association for Sustainable Development Alcudia Valley) and is funded by the European Union (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development through the LEADER programme 2014-2020, Submeasure 19.3), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla – La Mancha (Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development). It also has collaborating entities such as the Secretary of State for Tourism, the Spanish Ecotourism Association, the Directorate General for the Natural Environment and Biodiversity and the Directorate General for Tourism, Trade and Crafts.
