Management Plan of the Natura Network in the Municipality of Aínsa-Sobrarbe. In January 2021 the Government of Aragon approved the Basic Management and Conservation Plans for the Protected Areas of the Natura 2000 Network in Aragon (D. 13/2021). The Municipality of Aínsa-Sobrarbe has four Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) (48 km²): ZEC ES2410005 Guara Norte, ZEC ES2410025 Sierra y Cañones de Guara, ZEC ES2410048 Río Ara, ZEC ES2410055 Sierra de Arro and a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA). (68 km²In compliance with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Aínsa Sobrarbe Town Council has set among its strategic objectives to ensure the political mainstreaming of biodiversity protection, improve governance, administrative management of biodiversity and social communication of biodiversity.
For this reason, in April 2021 the Aínsa-Sobrarbe Town Council organized a participatory workshop on the Natura 2000 Network in the Municipality of Aínsa with different social agents of the territory (public and private), in order to share ideas for the future management and conservation of Natura 2000 sites.
The workshop was the first of its kind to be held in Aragon and could serve as a model to be exported and implemented in other municipalities in the Autonomous Community of Aragon.
With the results of this workshop, the City Council of Aínsa-Sobrabrarbe commissioned the FCQ to draw up an Action Plan for the Management of the Natura 2000 Network in the Municipality of Aínsa-Sobrabrarbe (Huesca), the result of which was the drafting of 20 measures and 31 actions.
The Plan was unanimously approved in July 2021 in the plenary session of the Town Council.
In this way, the City Council acquired some municipal obligations that affect this Network in terms of planning, urban and environmental or activity licenses, municipal works (e.g., road maintenance) or forestry actions.
All of them must be respectful of the management plans of the different established protection figures.
The Plan was the first of its kind to be carried out in Aragon and could serve as a model to be exported and implemented in other municipalities in the Autonomous Region.
It has innovative solutions in the management model, and incorporates public-private collaboration and cooperation between a local entity and an NGO with experience in biodiversity conservation.