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The Government of Andorra's commitment to preserving and improving the landscape is not a recent phenomenon. Back in October 2010, the Government of Andorra had signed the European Landscape Convention and, in late 2011, the General Council approved its ratification as a further step toward the creation of a national landscape policy. Subsequently, on 27 April 2011, the Government approved the National Andorran Landscape Strategy (ENPA) for the period 2011-2020, aligning with the principles and objectives of the European Landscape Convention.
In 2019, with the enactment of Law 7/2019 concerning the preservation of the environment, biodiversity and landscape, the landscape was recognised as an essential component of the living environment and the individual and collective well-being of the inhabitants of the Principality of Andorra, an expression of the diversity of their shared natural and cultural heritage, and a basic part of their identity. This Law provides a legal framework for the national landscape strategy, and defines it as an instrument for protecting, managing and ordering the country's landscape.
However, it has become necessary to draw up a new National Landscape Strategy that revises and updates the previous strategy, which expired in 2020. Therefore, with the technical support provided by the Landscape Observatory of Catalonia, we are working on the new strategy for 2035. Pursuing an innovative approach, this strategy is articulated around a landscape map that will include the principles, landscape quality objectives and lines of action developed from a participative and collaborative project undertaken with all the relevant stakeholders, including communal authorities, Government ministries, the companies working in environment-related fields, associations and the general public.
The participation process is considered a key aspect in developing this new strategy. Its purpose is to generate collective reflection on the Principality's landscape; leverage the knowledge held by the country's citizens, social and economic agents and main institutions; compile the iconic landscapes identified by Andorran society as part of its identity; gather, debate and, lastly, agree on the principles, landscape quality objectives and associated areas of action and, most importantly, engage and share ownership of the collective stewardship of landscape with Andorran society.
Taking into account the country's features and societal perceptions, the landscape quality objectives profiled in the strategy are structured in terms of well-preserved high-mountain landscapes that harmonise conservation of their natural and cultural heritage with economic exploitation; productive, ecologically functional, socially recognised agricultural and woodland landscapes; quality urban landscapes that enhance the public spaces and heritage elements of towns and villages; living, functional river landscapes that allow sustainable use of water resources and facilitate their social enjoyment; energy and communication infrastructures that are more integrated in the landscape and address the challenges of the climate emergency; quality, suitably sized, multifunctional tourism and leisure amenities that facilitate deseasonalisation and preserve landscape quality; and, lastly, natural and cultural landmarks that highlight the identity and uniqueness of Andorra's landscape.
The objectives will be given concrete form in priority areas of activity and a plan with specific actions and projects aimed at achieving this new 2035 strategy's landscape quality objectives.
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