A couple of environmental reporters visit the natural spaces of the municipalities of Guixers and Navès, in the Solsonès region (Lleida) every day of the week with the aim of avoiding incivility and raising awareness among visitors.
They are the informants that the Government incorporated this summer in Central Catalonia to control pools and river spaces. In Solsonès it was decided to change the dates to coincide with the mushroom season, a time with many visitors. Although this year the mushroom campaign is very weak and this has an impact on the influx of people, the mayor of Guixers, Jordi Selga, explains that uncivil behavior continues: “There is a public that parks badly, cuts off livestock farms and throw garbage in the forest
Until mid-December, a couple of environmental informants hired by the Generalitat will follow the forests and natural spaces of the municipalities of Navès and Guixers, located in the northeast of Solsonès, to avoid uncivil actions.
The town councils of both municipalities asked the Department of Climate Action if they could use this service in autumn and not in summer, as initially planned.
Navès and Guixers have been hiring rural guards for some years now to control pools and river spaces. “In order not to overlap we asked if the informants could come during the mushroom season,” explains Selga.
Traditionally, autumn is a time of great influx of people in this area of ??Solsonès, since many mushrooms grow. However, this year the lack of rain and the accumulated drought have made the mushroom campaign very bad.
As a consequence, the mayor explained, “natural spaces are much emptier than in other times.” However, Selga points out that uncivil behaviors are being repeated. “Within the world of mushroom hunters we have professionals who are very sensitive, but we have another weekend public that is unaware of the rural environment and park incorrectly, blocking the way to livestock farms, throw garbage into the forest and carry out actions that harm the rural environment,” he laments.
Precisely the poor parking of vehicles is the situation that informants encounter the most. This is how one of them, Jordi Romero, explains it. “Normally when we inform them, people understand and park as God intended. There is always someone who says that he has always come and parks wherever he wants, but normally there is no problem,” he explains. The informants also distribute information leaflets explaining what to do and what not to do in natural environments.
The mayor of Guixers notes that after Covid-19 there was a “boom” and people “threw en masse” into natural spaces. This situation, he assures, has been moderating, but he considers that it is positive that there is regulation of spaces. Precisely the municipalities of Guixers, Navès and Sant Llorenç de Morunys established ordinances to regulate bathing areas. This summer, although the influx of people has also been much lower due to the lack of water, Selga anticipates that around 500 sanctions have been filed between the municipalities of Guixers and Navès.
