A fading mountain world? Landscape change driven by the economic and socioecological fabric of the Pyrenean area around Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park (1900-2020)

Abstract

Industrialization and the subsequent transition to a tourism-based economy, together with the globalization of the agri-food system, have transformed how natural resources are used, the relationship between the local population and the landscape, and the biodiversity of mountainous areas. This article analyses the agrarian and environmental history of the area surrounding Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park, in the Catalan Pyrenees, from the early twentieth century to the present day, through oral testimonies, old photographs, demographic and socioeconomic data, and a GIS-based map analysis of changes in land use and the location of the resident population. The results show that economic tertiarization and the end of integrated productive land management have given rise to a forest transition towards less landscape diversity. This threatens the entire range of landscape ecosystem services that make the area appealing for a more diversified and sustainable mountain tourism model.