Preserving nature will be key to ensuring mountain tourism in the Pyrenees

Only mountain tourism that takes care of and places nature at the center of its decisions will be viable in the current climate change context. This is the conclusion of a study published in the journal Mountain Research and Development that argues that the best future investment for ski and mountain facilities is to conserve or enhance the nature that surrounds them. The research, carried out together with Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) and led by researchers from CREAF and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Joan Rabassa and Bernat Claramunt , proposes a battery of 36 specific proposals for natural capital management aimed at improving the sustainability of these tourist spaces and reducing the environmental risks of climate change.

This study is part of the Neret Project promoted by FGC with the aim of increasing the natural capital of the surroundings of the mountain resorts it manages and establishing long-term objectives to preserve them. To achieve this, the research team has analyzed the natural capital surrounding two public mountain resorts in the Catalan Pyrenees, La Molina and Vall de Núria , and has studied the connections with their activity. The result has been clear, their activity depends on the natural resources around them, such as forests, pastures or river courses, from which skiable areas, protection against avalanches, water for making snow for cultivation or landscapes that give meaning to the tourist experience.

To analyze everything and make proposals, the team has combined scientific information, economic models, geographical data and field work with participatory workshops with different stakeholders.

Among the proposed measures are preserving and expanding forest cover, restoring degraded pastures, clearing and reducing unnecessary infrastructure, improving water storage, restoring ecosystems such as mountain streams or alpine meadows, and protecting habitats of community interest or creating new ones , such as butterfly gardens.

Ferrocarrils has already begun to implement various actions related to the Neret project. As for La Molina, and within the framework of improving the forest mass, the system of forest climate credits of Catalonia is being worked on through the PROMACC program, which will be made publicly available. These climate credit systems will help to fix carbon in forest masses and soils; optimize forest water consumption; conserve biodiversity, and reduce the risk of fire.

In the case of Vall de Núria, a surface of 30,000 ^m2 of garden areas and pastures is being recovered as spaces for the free growth of plant species, creating areas to encourage butterfly pollination and recovering and expanding the frog pond. The Bioengineering Congress was also held in Vall de Núria last October, where some of the bioengineering techniques used to repair a slope damaged by a landslide were seen.

Did you know that around 3,500 sheep graze on the La Molina ski slopes, in addition to cattle and horses? One of the specific recommendations proposed by the study is to improve the management of these pastures. This extensive livestock farming serves to maintain the meadows that later serve as ski slopes, but current management presents some logistical and ecological challenges, such as overgrazing in some areas, which puts plant biodiversity at risk, or the presence of invasive species, such as senecio, which also make it difficult. For this reason, the study proposes establishing livestock rotation systems, restoring degraded pastures and controlling these invasive plants, with the aim of improving the quality of ecosystems and reducing soil degradation.

One of the outstanding results of the study is that, despite the differences between the two stations analyzed, there are some elements of natural capital that systematically appear as priorities for both the company and local actors. Among these , water, rural uses of the territory (such as livestock farming or timber extraction) and cultural services (such as the landscape or recreational activities linked to nature) stand out.

These factors meet the three key requirements: they are essential for the operation of ski resorts, also for the well-being of local communities and to maintain the tourist attractiveness of the territory.

According to the authors, integrating natural capital into resort management plans is a new way of working and thinking that can help to better identify the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and changes in land use, and, ultimately, facilitate decisions that make this sector sustainable in the long term.

The study was carried out within the framework of the NERET project, with the support of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) and the collaboration of the mountain stations of La Molina and Vall de Núria.

Reference article: Rabassa-Juvanteny, J., & Claramunt-López, B. (2026). Natural Capital Assessment and Recommendations for Sustainable Tourism in Ski and Mountain Resorts of the Catalan Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development, 46(1), R17-R29