The Garraf National Park:

the management of a natural environment

 

Management Aims

  • To protect, conserve and improve the natural and rural environment of the Garraf Massif.

  • To ensure the compatible use of the Park's resources by its inhabitants.

  • To manage the resources of geology, flora, fauna and ecosystems not as isolated elements but as a complex interrelated system that reflects the long history of human exploitation of the area.

  • To provide and regulate the road network, footpaths, guided trails and other services for visitors and inhabitants.

The National Park of the Garraf lies between the lower valley of the river Llobgegat, the Mediterranean sea and the Penedes Depression. The greater part of the Park was declared a Natural Park in 1986. The scenery is unusual, with rounded hilltops and deep, sheer-sided valleys. The predominant limestone rock is dotted with a type of Mediterranean maquis and garrigue vegetation, consisting of dwarf fan plams, kermes oak, mastic trees and the pampas-like grass, Ampelodesmos mauritanica. Features typical of karst landscapes include numerous caves and sinkholes, dolines, Karren, and several underground rivers which discharge large quantities of fresh water below the surface of the sea.

The Park itself is virtually uninhabited. The population inside the Park is as shown:

Population

 Municipality                

       Number of inhabitants    

Begues

6

Gava

3

Olivella (including La Plana Novella)

28

Sitges

35

Total

237

There are also 40 temporary inhabitants employed in La Plana Novella, mainly at the Tibetan Buddhist Retreat.

 

Population and socio-economic changes in the wider Olivella area are shown below:

Migration

 

Population Density (kmē)

Years

Olivella

 Garraf District

Barcelona Province

Catalunya

1940

5

113

251

91

1950

5

127

287

101

1960

4

159

368

122

1970

3

215

507

160

1980

3

269

599

187

1991

10

418

593

187

1995

23

476

615

195

Type of Occupancy

  Municipality Region Catalunya
  1981 1991 1981 1991 1981 1991
Principal Home 6.4 15.0 50.7 49.6 71.6 70.9
Secondary Home 91.2 83.7 36.8 41.0 13.5 17.2
Vacant 2.4 1.2 12.5 8.9 14.9 11.6
Others . 0.1 . 0.5 . 0.3
Total dwellings 591 946 39.005 49.486 2.452.869 2.721.383

Occupational Structure

  Municipality Region Catalunya
Sector: 1986 1991 1986 1991 1986 1991
Agriculture 23.7 6.9 4.4 3.2 4.9 3.7
Industry 16.9 25.0 36.4 30.2 35.7 36.2
Construction 6.8 15.3 9.6 12.4 5.3 8.2
Services 40.7 52.8 45.8 54.2 45.6 51.9
Others 11.9 . 3.8 . 8.5 .
Total occupations 59 144 21.029 27.213 1.839.097 2.255.430
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