The Catalan government has released to public information this Friday the decree with the statutes that must govern the operation of the Nature Agency, created by the Parliament in 2020 but whose implementation depends on the approval of these statutes. The statutes maintain the provision of a board of directors of 19 members with a large majority of representatives of the Generalitat and where other social sectors are represented, such as local administration (2 members), the agricultural sector (1), forestry property ( 1), conservation groups (1) and environmental groups (1) and biodiversity research centers (1). Likewise, the composition of the social council is specified, which will also be part of the Agency with broad representation of the agroforestry sector.
The mission of the Agència de la Natura is “the protection, planning, management, restoration, improvement and study of the natural environment of Catalonia, both in the continental and marine spheres,” says the law approved by the Parliament. the year 2020. The ultimate goal is to “conserve its natural heritage, its biodiversity and its geodiversity, and guarantee environmental services.”
Marc Vilahur, general director of Polítiques Ambientals i Medi Natural, defends the participatory process carried out to prepare the statutes. “We have tried to achieve maximum consensus and unity. Much of the rural world has reacted favorably to the statutes. With some parts we have achieved a rapprochement, but another maintains its antagonistic position,” he adds. In this participatory process, 10 sessions have been held, with 300 contributions, of which 75% have been incorporated.
Marc Vilahur specifies that it was not possible to change the law, as the agroforestry sectors claim. “The law is legitimate; It is what it is. Reopening the debate would have been to cast doubt on a law approved by the Parliament by a very large majority,” he says.
And regarding the little importance given to the social council, he points out: “The social council will ensure the good management of the Agency. It is not a decision-making body, but it may issue reports that question the functioning of the Agency and that can be transferred to management.”
The general director of Politiques Ambientals, Marc Vilahur, rejects that the operation of the Agency will entail more administrative controls over forestry exploitations. “We don’t want to impose restrictions. The Agency offers the rural world an opportunity to be more resilient in the face of the environmental crises that we are suffering, the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity.”
The new body will deal with biodiversity policies for both habitats and species (both terrestrial and marine); of the geological heritage and the system of protected natural spaces (parks, reserves…). He will also be in charge of wildlife recovery centers and the fight against invasive species; as well as guaranteeing the ecological functionality of green infrastructure, among others.
