El ecoturismo del lobo genera 700.000 euros de beneficios anuales | La Opinion

Wolf ecotourism in the Sierra de la Culebra stands as one of the socio-economic breaths and relevant natural heritage of the municipalities of the Regional Hunting Reserve. In addition, with firm repercussions in the fixation of the population and in the development of hospitality life, in the expenditure and consumption of products, in the enjoyment of gastronomy and in the promotion and teaching of an extensive cultural and ethnographic wealth that the territory treasures .

The added value of the wolf has been highlighted by professor Juan Pablo Martín González, a teacher with a diploma in Physical and Infant Education, and a commissioner of the ecotourism company “Signatur” to show the predator to all kinds of lovers of the species and of the nature. He has done it as a speaker of the course for specialists in wolf management and conservation developed at this time by Euromediterránea for the Surveillance of Wild Fauna by Waves, the University of León, the Natural Heritage Foundation and the Junta de Castilla y León.

Ecotourism is an economic resource for the entire region. In 2017, the Secretary of State for Tourism prepared a study of La Culebra and indicates that more than 3,000 people came to see wolf in freedom, which generates economic resources and a boost from companies that carry out this activity, restaurants, houses rural areas, from food stores and artisan products, gasoline consumption … I estimate that more or less each person who comes to the observation has expenses of between 130 or 140 euros, plus accommodation and meals. About 200 euros per person ”says Martín.

“At the end of the year, throughout La Culebra it can be estimated that there may be economic profits of 600,000 or 700,000 euros per year, half for companies involved in wildlife and the other for the rest,” he adds.

Pablo Martín highlighted the extraordinary characteristics that La Culebra presents in the avifaunistic order, but also ethnographic. “The little presence of fences in the mountains, the small populations that are scattered and with low population density, and the little presence of human beings in the mountains make the Culebra a privileged place for the wolf to have its habitat, and one of the places where you are most likely to see it in freedom in Spain and Europe. La Culebra is an ideal place to be and see the wolf ”he says.

Regarding ecotourism, he remarks that “it is intended to achieve the enjoyment of nature with balance of the environment”, and points out that “ecotourism has to transmit knowledge about nature and not only be an economic movement. It is important to transmit knowledge and do an environmental education ”.

In his opinion, wolf tourism “avoids the drama of rural depopulation or makes the process slower. Hunting gives money at the municipal level, but the benefits of ecotourism fall on people who have businesses ”. Pablo Martín repairs in “the number of hotels, rural houses, lodgings, bars and shops” that prosper in the area with tourism linked to the predator, in towns of just over a hundred people or that do not reach 500. He emphasizes that “The awareness” that the observation of the wolf entails. “Seeing that it is a tool for the future has changed the vision of the wolf, which has gone from being the bad guy in the movie to being seen as something positive. There are retired people who even wish luck to those who want to see the wolf ”, he says. He also notes that the wolf and nature have led to the settlement of people who have chosen the area to live – as Mayor Villardeciervos – to enrichment and to create social relationships with those who live in the place. It affects “the ethics of observation” and points out that “this year there is much more tourism, perhaps due to leaving confinement”. He alludes to the fact that “a family wolf clan has been greatly disturbed, which has disappeared,” and criticizes “the annoyances and disturbances” generated by those who get into jeeps and on foot in inappropriate places. “In ecotourism, respect for fauna prevails over the whim of seeing wolves. It is not necessary to interfere in the behavior of the fauna ”. Another perceived aspect is the increase in women interested in seeing the wolf, who even now exceed that of men. Regarding hunting and observation, he asks, in the absence of a regulation, that “there is communication between the Nursery and the ecotourism companies because it is very bad to hear a shot and it is a bad image to see a deer and even a wolf killed.”

975/5000The biologist of the company Wild Watching Spain, based in Riaño (León), Luis Robles González, focused his presentation on the observation of the wolf in Picos de Europa. After explaining the characteristics of the company, he delved into the observation of the wolf in some mountains that involve serious difficulties to spot it. Without any attractants or bait to concentrate the wolf in one spot, it is necessary to spend some time locating it to make it easier for tourists to contemplate it. “This is not a zoo nor is it a closed place. People who come know what is coming. It is not a general public ”says Robles González. To avoid coincidences with hunters “there is communication” with the Environmental Nursery.

The wolf is the wolf and observing him in the Leonese mountains requires getting up early, being cold and making an effort because he has a difficulty. It is not a cathedral that is there ”says Luis Robles, who, especially in summer, manages to fill visitors from all over Europe with emotion.