Mountains, olive trees, and ancient irrigation receive international recognition today

The Montañas de León will be recognised in Rome on Monday as a unique system that stands out for its landscape, agronomic, cultural, and anthropological values.

The president of the Provincial Council of León, Eduardo Morán, will collect this accreditation along with 23 other representatives of Important Systems of the World Agricultural Heritage (GIAHS) from all over the world from the hands of the general director of the United Nations Organisation (UN) for Food and Agriculture (FAO), QR Dongyu.

The ceremony, which has not been held since 2018, will distinguish a total of 24 GIAHS designated territories as of July 2018 from 12 countries: Brazil (1), China (4), South Korea (2), Ecuador (2), Spain (3), Iran (2), Italy (2), Japan (2), Mexico (1), Morocco (2), Thailand (1) and Tunisia (1). Spain, with three GIAHS spaces, will be the second country after China that will receive the most recognition in this 2023 edition.

72 agricultural heritage systems

Worldwide, FAO has recognised 72 agricultural heritage systems spread over 23 countries. The Montañas de León were added to this list last November, adding a fifth GIAHS for Spain, which already had the Valle Salado de Araña (Álava), the cultivation of raisins in La Axarquía (Málaga), the ancient olive trees of the Sénia Territory (Tarragona, Teruel and Castellón) and the historical irrigation system of the Valencian orchard. These last two will also collect their accreditation this Monday at the ceremony that will take place at the FAO headquarters in Rome, starting at 9:30 a.m.

Almost a hundred town halls and 10,500 square kilometres formally enter into the elite world agricultural heritage that constitutes the GIAHS territories thanks to values ​​such as its 7 biosphere reserves, its 13 food quality seals (of the 16 in the entire province) and, mainly, to that unique way of its inhabitants to pamper lands, forests and pastures.

FAO is the United Nations agency leading the international effort to end hunger. Its goal is to achieve food security for all, while ensuring regular access to sufficient, good-quality food for an active and healthy life. With 195 members – 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in more than 130 countries around the world.

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