Cultivating Nature: The Conservation of a Valencian Working Landscape

by Sarah R. Hamilton, Paul S. Sutter (Foreword by), Paul S. Sutter (Editor)

Overview

Winner of the 2019 Turku Book Award from the European Society for Environmental History

The Albufera Natural Park, an area ten kilometers south of Valencia that is widely regarded as the birthplace of paella, has long been prized by residents and visitors alike. Since the twentieth century, the disparate visions of city dwellers, farmers, fishermen, scientists, politicians, and tourists have made this working landscape a site of ongoing conflict over environmental conservation in Europe, the future of Spain, and Valencian identity.

In Cultivating Nature, Sarah Hamilton explores the Albufera’s contested lands and waters, which have supported and been transformed by human activity for a millennium, in order to understand regional, national, and global social histories. She argues that efforts to preserve biological and cultural diversity must incorporate the interests of those who live within heavily modified and long-exploited ecosystems such as the Albufera de Valencia. Shifting between local struggles and global debates, this fascinating environmental history reveals how Franco’s dictatorship, Spain’s integration with Europe, and the crisis in European agriculture have shaped the Albufera, its users, and its inhabitants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295748092
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	08/01/2020
Series:	Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sarah R. Hamilton is associate professor of history at Auburn University.

Table of Contents

Foreword: The Lake as a Microcosm Paul S. Sutter ix

Preface xv

List of Abbreviations xix

Introduction 3

1 Creating the National Territory (1874-1936) 29

2 Transformation and Conservation (1936-1970) 59

3 Landscapes "For the People" (1970-1074) 90

4 Europeanization and the Albufera Natural Park (1975-1990) 127

5 Crisis and Compromise (1991-2012) 159

Conclusion: Managing the Albufera in a Changing World 187

Appendix: Paella Valenciana 201

Notes 205

Bibliography 257

Index 279

What People are Saying About This

Nancy Langston

"A fascinating study of the Albufera in Spain—a landscape rich in birds, where the avian diversity has been shaped by human cultural diversity as well as by ecological processes. In the Albufera, advocates of rewilding and advocates of local communities have to wrestle with competing notions of how best to protect and restore a dynamic landscape. How do we create truly collaborative conservation programs in a world of competing histories and competing economies? Hamilton does not provide easy or simple answers, but her detailed history of the Albufera provides useful lessons for collaborative management of complex landscapes."

Tracey Heatherington

"Should interest not only environmental historians and social scientists, but also every forest ranger, biologist, and agricultural expert concerned with the conservation of nature and biodiversity."

Lino Camprubi

"Cultivating Nature fills an important gap in the available literature on the conservation of working landscapes. . . . This nuanced study yields new perspectives and even suggests solutions to contemporary efforts to conserve working landscapes that are happening elsewhere."

Editorial Reviews

"Cultivating Nature is a work written in a clear, engaging language, which is not only excellently suited for academic introductory courses on the agricultural and conservation history of Spain in the twentieth century, but also provides a good introduction for a readership outside the academic world that is generally interested in nature conservation."

Agricultural History

"Understands the specificities of a space (La Albulfera de Valencia) that cannot be understood without human intervention in its more than six centuries of history; a space shaped by farmers, hunters, citizens of Valencia, politicians, and officials in a changing and often conflictive relationship, who display opposing interests and conflicting conceptions of conservation."

Environmental History

"Hamilton captures the inherent complexity of environmental issues very well."

Technology and Culture

"An excellent reference for environmental history in Spain, consolidating existing research and opening new lines of reflection toward the future."

H-Net

"[A] remarkable monograph, which demonstrates its author’s clear commitment to in-depth research in telling this fascinating and complex story."

Environment and History

This volume is a welcome addition to environmental collections given the conspicuous dearth of quality environmental histories of Spain. . . . Hamilton presents an approachable, well-researched account of how the Albufera was the nexus of environmentalists’ efforts for conservation through "rewilding" both before and after the Franco dictatorship and his regime’s pointed effort to develop the tourism industry on what would become an extremely sensitive and biodiverse site of European environmental importance. . . . Highly recommended.

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