The Garraf Natural Park: the management of a natural environment
Management Aims
To protect, conserve and improve the natural and rural
environment of the Garraf Massif.
To ensure the compatible use of the Park's resources by its
inhabitants.
To manage the resources of geology, flora, fauna and ecosystems
not as isolated elements but as a complex interrelated system that reflects the
long history of human exploitation of the area.
To provide and regulate the road network, footpaths, guided
trails and other services for visitors and inhabitants.
The Natural Park of the Garraf lies between the lower valley of
the river Llobregat, the Mediterranean sea and the Penedés Depression. The
greater part of the Park was declared a Natural Park in 1986. The scenery is
unusual, with rounded hilltops and deep, sheer-sided valleys. The predominant
limestone rock is dotted with a type of Mediterranean maquis and garrigue
vegetation, consisting of dwarf fan palms, kermes oak, mastic trees and the
pampas-like grass, Ampelodesmos mauritanica. Features typical of karst
landscapes include numerous caves and sinkholes, dolines, karren, and several
underground rivers which discharge large quantities of fresh water below the
surface of the sea.
The Park itself is virtually uninhabited. The population inside
the Park is as shown:
Population
Municipality
Number of inhabitants
Begues
6
Gava
3
Olivella (including La Plana Novella)
28
Sitges
35
Total
237
There are also 40 temporary inhabitants employed in La Plana
Novella, mainly at the Tibetan Buddhist Retreat.
Population and socio-economic changes in the wider Olivella
area are shown below:
