The aim is to expand agricultural areas dedicated to viticulture, contributing to climate change mitigation, biodiversity preservation, forest fire prevention and sustainable socioeconomic development across the region.
The Enotourism Promotion Consortium of the Alella DO Territory, which manages the La Terra de la Pansa Blanca brand, and the Serralada Litoral Park Consortium, presented the project 'Vineyards and Forests: A Sustainable Future for the Territory' this Wednesday, 28th of January, at the Carrencà Winery in Martorelles. The initiative envisages developing a strategic plan for sustainable viticulture combining climate change adaptation, agricultural land recovery and forest fire prevention in an area with over 2,000 years of winemaking tradition spanning the Maresme, Vallès Oriental and Barcelonès regions.
The initiative benefits from technical support from the Barcelona Provincial Council, which has commissioned the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) to draft the strategic plan. The research centre will conduct a comprehensive territorial assessment to be presented in June and prepare a work plan ready by year's end. The territorial scope includes 26 consortium municipalities across the Maresme, Vallès Oriental and Barcelonès regions, totalling nearly 650,000 inhabitants within the Serralada Litoral Park.
The event brought together approximately fifty people from the wine sector, representatives from the 26 consortium municipalities, park technicians and local stakeholders. Speakers included Marc Candela, Mayor of Martorelles and President of the Serralada Litoral Park Consortium; Marc Almendro, President of the Enotourism Promotion Consortium of the Alella DO Territory and Mayor of Alella; Xesco Gomar, President of the Natural Spaces and Green Infrastructure Area at the Barcelona Provincial Council; and Simó Alegre, Director of Research and Innovation Development at IRTA. All emphasised the excellent collaboration between administrations and the need for joint, coordinated efforts, as well as engagement with agricultural and wine sector professionals.
The 'Vineyards and Forests' project pursues three main objectives. The first is promoting new vineyard planting with proximity criteria, advancing the zero-kilometre philosophy and actions contributing to climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. The second objective is contributing to forest fire prevention by encouraging mosaic landscape recovery, particularly in peri-urban areas at higher fire risk, where vineyard cultivation can function as green firebreaks. The third objective is promoting sustainable socioeconomic development through enotourism, quality local produce and the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, within the framework of Barcelona Provincial Council's Products of the Land Network and the Barcelona Counties Tourism Sustainability Commitment Programme.
Additionally, the project aligns with improving ecosystem services, encompassing fire prevention, erosion control and biodiversity conservation, as well as services linked to landscape identity, cultural heritage promotion and enotourism and gastronomy development. This approach also covers quality production within the Alella DO and preservation of local varieties, such as pansa blanca, along with proximity products connected to the Park.
During the event, Xesco Gomar, President of the Natural Spaces and Green Infrastructure Area at the Barcelona Provincial Council, highlighted that "public-private collaboration is essential in such projects" and that "administrations must invest in green infrastructure development so farming and the wine sector have space to conduct their activities in an environment compatible with preserving this natural area". In this context, he called on all administrations to support the agricultural sector in addressing a potential food crisis.
Gomar also explained that local authorities can help guarantee ecosystem service provision from agricultural spaces and their continuity, a public policy the Barcelona Provincial Council is strengthening through work with various locally-driven agricultural areas. "We believe having a concrete strategy for agricultural spaces across Barcelona province is essential", he remarked.
Finally, he added that "projects like this help visualise the different dimensions of the green infrastructure we're promoting from the Provincial Council and highlight the various ecosystem services which, when well managed, can generate multiple environmental, economic and social benefits for society as a whole".
A preliminary assessment from the IRTA-commissioned study suggests that the historical regression of vineyards across the region has increased its environmental vulnerability. According to this initial analysis, agricultural land loss has favoured the formation of homogeneous, continuous forest mass, leading to the disappearance of the agroforestry mosaic and natural firebreaks, generating a scenario with heightened forest fire risk.
In this context, the study proposes promoting a paradigm shift advocating vineyard recovery and recognition as green infrastructure. This vision would enable progress towards an agroforestry mosaic capable of fostering biodiversity and providing ecosystem services to society at large, beyond the productive and identity value of vineyards linked to the Alella DO.
Beyond vineyards, data from the Barcelona Agrària programme show that total crop surface area has declined from representing over 50% of the region in the 1950s to just 14% in 2018, with 4,178 hectares of active agricultural land. Over these decades, half of the lost agricultural surface has converted to woodland (6,272 hectares), and the other half has been urbanised (5,438 hectares). Today, 57% of the region is forested (16,778 hectares), and 29% is urbanised (8,653 hectares).
Despite this historical regression, the region has 202 hectares of vineyards and 58 active wine operations generating an economic dimension of nearly one million euros.
Furthermore, 38% of the region's vineyards are organically farmed: 84 hectares representing a percentage far exceeding the Catalan average. Vineyard cultivation, predominantly rainfed (97%), combines with other significant agricultural productions such as cereals (1,110 hectares), fodder crops (382 hectares) and market gardens (213 hectares), with a total of 362 active agricultural operations.
One central element of the 'Vineyards and Forests' project is identifying recovery potential for land with agricultural aptitude. According to Barcelona Agrària data, the Consortium's territory has 4,227 hectares of potentially recoverable agricultural land, of which 584 hectares are already classified as crops in SIGPAC but currently have no productive use.
The remainder is divided between pastures that were crops in 1956 (1,773 hectares) and spontaneously afforested land following crop abandonment (1,870 hectares). The strategic plan will determine which surfaces are viable for vineyards, considering agronomic, environmental and fire prevention criteria.
The 'Vineyards and Forests' project forms part of the Barcelona Provincial Council's broader strategy supporting agricultural areas in the Vallès Oriental and Maresme, two regions with high urban pressure but also significant agricultural and landscape potential.
Through collaboration with institutions such as IRTA, the authority promotes green infrastructure projects across the region combining economic viability of agricultural operations with ecosystem service provision and forest fire prevention. This commitment to sustainable viticulture in the Alella DO aims to serve as a model for other provincial areas facing similar challenges of urban pressure, landscape transformation and agricultural land loss.
For further information about agricultural spaces supported by the authority, please contact Sònia Callau, Head of the Agricultural Territorial Directorate at Barcelona Provincial Council and coordinator of the Barcelona Agrària programme.
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