The overcrowding of the most popular natural spaces has been increasing in recent years, evidencing reckless and uncivil behavior. If in the mountains the firefighters of the Generalitat increase their outings year after year to complete rescues of hikers in trouble, the Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda department has counted this summer more than 24,000 incidents of greater or lesser severity in nature. For its part, Agents Rurals has carried out 4,184 actions for violation of regulations, between June 15 and September 15. Only 466 have ended in complaints, of which 265 for infractions committed in protected enclaves.
Yesterday, Acció Climàtica and Agents Rurals took stock, at a conference held in Vic, of the device of 66 environmental informants deployed this past summer in natural spaces, which have been visited by a total of 277,290 people. The problems that have been detected the most are parking in inappropriate places, carrying pets without leashing and littering. The cases that have ended in complaints refer mainly to motorized circulation on trails, camping and bathing in prohibited places, making fires and parking motorhomes in prohibited areas.
The increase in influx to protected destinations reached a peak when freedom of movement was regained after the covid confinement. The majority of citizens behave as they should but the impact of an irresponsible minority is more than visible.
Elisenda Pérez Esteve, general director of Agents Rurals, indicated yesterday that overcrowding “is a growing problem” given what she put on the table “the need to regulate access to protected natural spaces in an orderly and sustainable manner.” In fact, Acció Climàtica already promotes the regulation of parking in parks and other natural areas to promote a more controlled entry directed by informants, who coordinate with agents and rural guards.
Sometimes the role of such informants is questioned by visitors who ignore the rules. On August 4, a motorist attacked a guard of the Alt Pirineu natural park when he tried to dissuade him from driving on a track in the Vall de Bonabé. That same weekend in August, Acció Climàtica expressed its concern about the increase in reckless acts in Cap de Creus, where numerous people were bypassing access restrictions due to the danger of fire.
The general director of Environmental Policies, Marc Vilahur, maintains that “allocating more informants and regulating entry to a space reduces uncivil behavior and improves the state of biodiversity conservation.” In this sense, he indicated yesterday that greater control in the river areas of Les Planes d' Hostoles, in La Garrotxa, has led to a 66% reduction in waste.
The Generalitat has focused the action of environmental informants on the pools, rivers and waterfalls in the regions of Girona and Central Catalonia.
The head of the Rural Agents, Josep Antoni Mur, remembers that social networks and applications play a determining role in the overcrowding of the most attractive and desirable places in the hottest months. The effect of a photograph in a film environment can be devastating.
