ABSTRACT
With more than 27 percent of land designated as protected areas, Spain is the largest contributor to the Natura 2000 network of protected areas—Europe’s main source of policy for nature conservation. Following the 2003 IUCN World Parks Congress of Durban, EUROPARC-Spain adopted recommendations regarding the acknowledgment of the cultural and spiritual values of protected areas, which included the preparation of guidelines adapted to the country. 195This chapter describes the participatory process that enabled the preparation of a Manual, involving thirty experts from fifteen regions. It covers the scope of the work and sets out the proposed criteria and methodologies applied to address the integration of the intangible heritage of natural areas and their related values and discusses the significance and impact of the work.
