Changes in land cover are considered one of the most important forces of the global change
process. These shifts are the result of a complex interaction of the socioeconomic, cultural and
biophysical factors that act on different scales of space and time. For this reason, little is
known about the extent of these modifications. Within land cover changes, deforestation is
one of the worst-case phenomena globally, but in the North hemisphere the projections are
opposed. This dynamic in the Catalan Pyrenees has been marked by the rural exodus that
occurred during the second half of the twentieth century and which meant a significant
reduction in the population and the decline in the primary sector. These socio-economic
events have resulted in relevant landscape changes, causing homogenization of the territory
and the loss of biophysical diversity in the environment. It is for this reason, among others,
that it is necessary to analyse these changes in depth, in order to know more about their origin
and their consequences. This way, solid management proposals can be developed that help
mitigate its effects.
This document analyses the changes in the cover of the soil of the Natural Park of the
Capcaleres del Ter and Freser during the second half of the 20th century. These dynamics have
been compared with the demographic evolution of the area and the changes in the economic
system. The methodology used has been the Geographic Information Systems, which have
allowed the elaboration of cover maps, and a bibliographic search to interpret the causes and
the consequences. The results show an obvious shift in land cover, marked by the progress of
the dense forest, with the consequent loss of other roofs which in the past granted a mosaic
landscape in the Park. So it has been observed that this change has coincided with a transition
from the economic model and from demography and, therefore, these dynamics can be
considered intimately related. Finally, a series of potentially manageable areas, both
conservation and restoration, have been presented, to try to recover the lost spaces in this
period
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