A System of Indicators for Socio-Economic Evaluation and Monitoring of Global Change: An Approach Based on the Picos de Europa National Park

Abstract

National Parks are spaces that are of great interest for evaluating and monitoring global environmental change as these parks encompass natural, cultural, and rural features, along with ecological processes, which are subject to social or economic changes that are much more difficult to track outside of these spaces. To do this, it is necessary to have a sufficient set of data and indicators to monitor the effects of global change in the short, mid, and long term. The majority of indicators have been developed to monitor the bio-geophysical environment; socio-economic indicators of global change for National Parks are much more limited. The aim of this paper is to present a system of indicators for socio-economic evaluation and monitoring of global change for the Picos de Europa National Park. This park has two unique features: it has one of the two systems of socio-economic indicators developed for the Spanish National Parks, and it is practically the only one of Spain’s 16 National Parks with human populations living within its boundaries. Many of the indicators specifically developed for this park can be used for other national parks that have similar characteristics.