cows has raised new concerns in some areas. The two species influence the
meadows in an entirely different way, thus changing the vegetation and soil processes. Soils in the mountains are usually thin, and meadows provide the areas with
the largest capacity for carbon storage (Garcia-Pausas et al. 2017). All in all,
nowadays the so called traditional uses have seen sharp shifts, in the form of
abandonment of extensive, low-income activities. This has led to encroachment of
less productive pasture into shrub land and to secondary woodland
(Lasanta-Martinez et al. 2005). To allow forest recovering vs. maintaining sheep or
cow pasturing may become an issue for some conservation reserves that are fairly
conditioned by a cultural view of the mountain, and do not consider enhancing
wilderness as a primary goal (Fig. 1.4). On the other hand, the scenario to manage
may change in a faster way than the time required for implementing protection
Fig. 1.3 Despoblat de Casesnoves archaeological site. Medieval human occupation at 2225 m a.s.
l. that lasted until the 13th century (PNAESM, Pyrenees). Although the high mountain landscape
retains a lot of the wilderness character, the human footprint can be recognized in many ranges of
the world. Archaeological evidence indicates an early Holocene occupation (Gassiot Ballbè et al.
2017) and a development of a cultural landscape at least since the Bronze Age. Natural and
cultural heritages may coexist in high mountain nature reserves. However, management decisions
should not respond to pressures based on weak arguments about the merits of traditional uses.
Nature reserves should promote the proper understanding of the ecological incidence of humans on
high mountain ecosystems and landscape across time, but not necessarily reproduce them.
Photography: Grup d’Arqueologia de l’Alta Muntanya, Archive of the Aigüestortes i Estany de
Sant Maurici National Park
12
J. Catalan et al.
meadows in an entirely different way, thus changing the vegetation and soil processes. Soils in the mountains are usually thin, and meadows provide the areas with
the largest capacity for carbon storage (Garcia-Pausas et al. 2017). All in all,
nowadays the so called traditional uses have seen sharp shifts, in the form of
abandonment of extensive, low-income activities. This has led to encroachment of
less productive pasture into shrub land and to secondary woodland
(Lasanta-Martinez et al. 2005). To allow forest recovering vs. maintaining sheep or
cow pasturing may become an issue for some conservation reserves that are fairly
conditioned by a cultural view of the mountain, and do not consider enhancing
wilderness as a primary goal (Fig. 1.4). On the other hand, the scenario to manage
may change in a faster way than the time required for implementing protection
Fig. 1.3 Despoblat de Casesnoves archaeological site. Medieval human occupation at 2225 m a.s.
l. that lasted until the 13th century (PNAESM, Pyrenees). Although the high mountain landscape
retains a lot of the wilderness character, the human footprint can be recognized in many ranges of
the world. Archaeological evidence indicates an early Holocene occupation (Gassiot Ballbè et al.
2017) and a development of a cultural landscape at least since the Bronze Age. Natural and
cultural heritages may coexist in high mountain nature reserves. However, management decisions
should not respond to pressures based on weak arguments about the merits of traditional uses.
Nature reserves should promote the proper understanding of the ecological incidence of humans on
high mountain ecosystems and landscape across time, but not necessarily reproduce them.
Photography: Grup d’Arqueologia de l’Alta Muntanya, Archive of the Aigüestortes i Estany de
Sant Maurici National Park
12
J. Catalan et al.