Biocultural Heritages in Mallorca: Explaining the Resilience of Peasant Landscapes Within a Mediterranean Tourist Hotspot, 1870–2016
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sustainability Article Biocultural Heritages in Mallorca: Explaining the Resilience of Peasant Landscapes within a Mediterranean Tourist Hotspot, 1870–2016 Ivan Murray 1 , Gabriel Jover-Avellà 2,* , Onofre Fullana 3 and Enric Tello 4 1 Department of Geography, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma, Spain; [email protected] 2 Economics Department, University of Girona, Montilivi Campus, 17003 Girona, Spain 3 University of the Balearic Islands and Organic Farmers Association of Mallorca (APAEMA), 07122 Palma, Spain; [email protected] 4 Department of Economic History, Institutions, Policy and World Economy, University of Barcelona, Diagonal Avenue 690, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +34-972-418-223 Received: 13 February 2019; Accepted: 25 March 2019; Published: 1 April 2019 Abstract: Mallorca keeps an age-old biocultural heritage embodied in their appealing landscapes, largely exploited as an intangible tourist asset. Although hotel and real estate investors ignore or despise the peasant families who still persevere in farming amidst this worldwide-known tourist hotspot, the Balearic Autonomous Government has recently started a pay-for-ecosystem-services scheme based on the tourist eco-tax collection that offers grants to farmers that keep the Majorcan cultural landscapes alive, while a growing number of them have turned organic. How has this peasant heritage survived within such a global tourist capitalist economy? We answer this question by explaining the socio-ecological transition experienced from the failure of agrarian capitalism in the island, and the ensuing peasantization process during the first half of the 20th century through a local banking-driven and market-oriented land reform. Then, the early tourist specialization during the second half of the 20th century and the spatial concentration of the Green Revolution only in certain areas of the island meant a deep marginalization of peasant farming. Ironically, only a smallholder peasantry could keep cultivating these sustenance-oriented marginal areas where traditional farming was partially maintained and is currently being reinvigorated by turning organic. Now the preservation of these biocultural landscapes, and the keeping of the ecosystem services it provides to Majorcan society, requires keeping this peasantry alive. Keywords: peasant biocultural heritage; agrarian class structure; socio-ecological transition; green revolution; tourist hotspot 1. Introduction: Peasant Landscapes as Biocultural Heritage The island of Mallorca became a tourist destination for the European elites very early, during the Belle Époque (1870–1914). During those years the Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria in his masterpiece Die Balearen (Leipzig 1869–1884) wrote a detailed description of the peasant biocultural heritage lying behind the appealing landscapes of Mallorca [1,2]. Based on this and in many other sources, historians have long explained how peasant agriculture had historically shaped those Mallorcan cultural landscapes until 1900, enduring the agrarian class structure ruled by big landowners throughout the transition to agrarian capitalism [3]. The evolution towards a tourist hotspot, from the early elite visitors to the mass tourism during the 20th century, has turned agriculture and the local peasantry into marginal entities. However, that biocultural legacy is still endowed in a landscape able Sustainability 2019, 11, 1926; doi:10.3390/su11071926 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2019, 11, 1926 2 of 22 Sustainability 2019, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 23 thoughto offer weakened a variety of and habitats endangered for farm-associated by rural abandonment. species [4–6], evenAgroforest though mosaics weakened occupy and endangeredat present 94%by rural of the abandonment. island, and urban Agroforest areas 6% mosaics (Figure occupy 1). In atthis present article, 94% we ofattempt the island, to study and the urban persistence areas 6% of(Figure the peasant1). In this biocultural article, we herita attemptge tothat study has theremained persistence alive of in the the peasant agricultural biocultural landscapes. heritage thatThe Bioculturalhas remained approach alive in applied the agricultural to landscape landscapes. analysis understands The Biocultural landscape approach form applied and function to landscape as the resultanalysis of understandscomplex and landscape dynamic form nature-culture and function relationships. as the result ofAccordingly, complex and agricultural dynamic nature-culture landscapes canrelationships. be conceptualized Accordingly, as biocultural agricultural landscapes landscapes that can embody be conceptualized former agrarian as biocultural traditional landscapes practices [7–10].that embody The Archduke’s former agrarian book, traditional Die Balearen, practices compiled [7–10 the]. The traditional Archduke’s practices book, Dieabout Balearen, crop compiledsystems, varietalthe traditional plants and practices seeds, and about livestock crop systems, rearing varietalthat peasants plants had and preserved seeds, and and livestock improved rearing in the late that 19thpeasants century. had All preserved those peasant and improved practices in thecreated late 19thwhat century. now we All consider those peasant traditional practices agricultural created landscapes.what now we These consider landscapes traditional combine agricultural different landscapes. crops and These varieties landscapes that were combine grown different in multiple crops associationsand varieties to that ensure were not grown only in the multiple sustainability associations of peasant to ensure families not only and the communities, sustainability but of also peasant the sustainabilityfamilies and communities,of agroecosystems. but also The the set sustainability of peasant ofpractices agroecosystems. and knowledge, The set oftogether peasant with practices the seeds,and knowledge, livestock breeds, together and with arboriculture the seeds, livestock associated breeds, with and herbaceous arboriculture crops, associated and complex with herbaceousagroforest landscapescrops, and complexconstitute agroforest a valuable landscapes heritage that constitute could play a valuable an important heritage role that in could the advance play an towards important a morerole in sustainable the advance agriculture towards ain more the near sustainable future. Acco agriculturerdingly, in the the study near future.of the agro-social Accordingly, spaces the study that peasantof the agro-social communities spaces built that and peasant preserved communities is key for built capturing and preserved and understanding is key for capturing this peasant and culturalunderstanding heritage this [11,12]. peasant Scholars cultural have heritage pointed [11,12 out]. Scholars that peasant have pointedlandscapes, out that seed peasant banks landscapes,and plant nurseriesseed banks are and the plant most nurseriesrelevant sources are the mostto understand relevant sources traditional to understand agricultural traditional practices. agricultural To a large extent,practices. agricultural To a large traditional extent, agricultural practices have traditional been preserved practices havein some been areas preserved left aside in some by capitalism areas left mainstreamaside by capitalism dynamics, mainstream and sometimes dynamics, they andhave sometimes been recorded they haveand beenpreserved recorded through and preservedhistorical documentsthrough historical and archaeological documents andinformation, archaeological but th information,ey have also but remained they have alive also in remained many peasant alive in agriculturesmany peasant worldwide. agricultures Lastly, worldwide. biocultural Lastly, heritage biocultural is a crucial heritage tool is afor crucial developing tool for a developing sustainable a agriculturesustainable and agriculture fighting andagainst fighting climate against change climate [8,10,13,14]. change [In8,10 this,13 regard,,14]. In thislandscape regard, can landscape be defined can asbe a defined key indicator as a key to indicatortrack the topersistence track the persistenceof that heritage of that [15,16]. heritage [15,16]. Figure 1. Land cover map of Mallorca, 2012. Source: Our own, from Instituto Geográfico Nacional Figure 1. Land cover map of Mallorca, 2012. Source: Our own, from Instituto Geográfico Nacional 2015. (https://datos.gob.es/ca/catalogo/e00125901-corine-land-cover-2012-espana,accessedon7th 2015. (https://datos.gob.es/ca/catalogo/e00125901-corine-land-cover-2012-espana, accessed on 7th May2018). May 2018). Sustainability 2019, 11, 1926 3 of 22 Natural protected areas currently cover 44% of the island. Agroforest mosaics occupy 94%, and provide the ecological connectivity needed to link protected areas to one another. Hence, biodiversity conservation depends on this agroecological land matrix and wildlife-friendly managed farms [17,18]. Improving the knowledge of the long-term socioecological dynamics experienced by these land-use mosaics, and the people who make them, is crucial to keep this biocultural heritage alive [19,20], and to raise public awareness of their role in stopping and reversing the unsustainable pressures currently exerted by mass tourism [21]. This paper presents a synthesis of these socioecological dynamics in the Mallorca Island for the period 1870–2016, combining multiple sources, fieldwork and previous research. Section2 explains the impact of the