ASSESSMENT OF THE RURAL LANDSCAPES OF THE RIVER BASIN DUERO AND ITS BIOCULTURAL HERITAGE

Abstract

The current landscape is a result - always unfinished -of the interaction of man and nature and was created by the different uses - such as agriculture -, so if we protect the basin as a geographical space, we do not protect wild nature, but rather an environment built from this interaction. In the present investigation, the Duero River represents a connector between several important sites and at the same time the natural force that created certain types of rural landscapes and biocultural heritages. The objective of the river basin Duero study is to achieve a deep knowledge about the uses, techniques and practices, together with objects, constructions and cultural spaces that are inherent to them and that communities, groups or individuals recognize as part of the biocultural heritage; this knowledge should lead to a re-evaluation of the rural landscape. The rural landscape valuation goes through two main routes: the knowledge of its biocultural heritage and the economic valuation that includes externalities; specifically the water footprint of agricultural production and the virtual water extracted from the basin.