Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the ,

Maria-Àngels Roque. Anthropologist, European Institute of the Mediterranean

This article forms part of political anthropology and attempts to show the positioning and play of political and economic power in how the environment is perceived and valued. It is an approach in the Mediterranean area to a debate based on the premise of the conjunction between nature and culture as a paradigm, carried out in the Serra de Tramuntana in Mallorca. In the dynamic of actors, goats represent extreme nature, dangerous but also a bringer of new incentives for revaluing the environment as a supplier of hunting tourism. At present, the regulations of the public administrations only benefit the large estates while biodiversity, despite what some argue, is still in question.

What is the basis of understanding the environ- managed to reliably dismantle the margins ment? We have to keep in mind that we have drawn between nature and culture, between already left aside the concepts of ecological local and expert knowledge. In this respect, I determinism in relation to culture and are would like to present a phenomenon that is per- moving closer, to some extent, to the ideas of sistent but in the last 20 years has considerably anthropologist Kay Milton (2010), who sug- changed the perception of natural resources, as gests that we substitute old formulas such as well as the interaction, in this case, between “environments shape cultures” and “specific animals and humans. I refer to the feral goats environmental aspects shape specific cultural on the island of Mallorca and the actions re- features” with “how we interact with the sulting from their proliferation. Knowing that environment shapes how we understand it.” animals are independent beings and worthy This is only one of the faces of a dual process, of trust makes people act towards them in a given that how people understand their envi- certain way; seeing animals as objects to be ronment also shapes how they relate to it and subjected and consumed by humans leads to a this changes according to what is introduced, different way of relating to them. Therefore, recreated or valued in nature. continuing with Milton’s reflections, we see The environmental studies that take an that cultural perspectives provide the know­ interdisciplinary approach have undoubtedly ledge, assumptions, values, objectives and ideo- 140 Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca Maria-Àngels Roque logical foundation guiding human activity. This The Serra de Tramuntana is the backbone activity, in its turn, provides experiences and of the northeast of Mallorca. It is 90 km long, perceptions that shape people’s understanding with a maximum width of 15 km, in an area of the world. The process is not unidirectional comprising 18 villages and towns – the biggest but dialectical, according to Milton (2010: 15). being Calvià, Pollença and –, which Mallorca, the biggest island of the Balearic account for almost 30% of the island surface archipelago, shifted during the 20th century area and over 1,000 km2. 8,000 people live in the from a rural economy to mass tourism. It is core zones but the population in buffer zones not a new process but has been maturing con- amounts to around 40,000 inhabitants. Several tinuously: for one hundred years the island summits exceed a height of 1,000 m, notably has focused on tourism. In 1903, Bartomeu Puig Major (1,443 m), Puig de Massanella Amengual published the book La industria de (1,348 m), Serra d’Alfàbia (1,069 m), Es Teix los forasteros, with a prologue by the poet and (1,064 m) and Galatzó (1,026 m). essayist Joan Alcover, which reflected a serious In 2011, the Serra de Tramuntana was de- concern with the subject. In 1905, the Sociedad clared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in del Fomento del Turismo was founded, the first the category of cultural landscape. The website of its kind in , and still active. During the www.serradetramuntana.net, created by the last 50 years there has been a major economic Consell de Mallorca following the declaration, and tourism growth that has created processes explains: “This is the international commu- of intense outsourcing and speculation with nity’s acknowledgement of the near-perfect the sale of estates in rural areas. This does not symbiosis between the action of human beings mean that Mallorcans have lost the dietary and nature, which has occurred for centuries, guidelines that are one of the most important resulting in a monumental work by humans foundations of their identity. Local products are in which culture, traditions, aesthetics, spir- valued even if they are more expensive because ituality and identity are merged. The cultural of their “authenticity”. landscape of the Serra is the fruit of the ex- change of knowledge between cultures, with Mallorca, the biggest island of the small-scale works performed collectively for a Balearic archipelago, shifted during the productive end, conditioned by the limitations 20th century from a rural economy to imposed by the physical medium. Limitations mass tourism. It is not a new process but overcome by knowledge and the intelligent use has been maturing continuously: for one of resources, without destroying the medium. hundred years the island has focused on And it is also the recreation of a region through tourism the collective imagination and works by artists who have found inspiration in it. Usually, sun and beach tourism is concen- “According to the European Landscape trated in dedicated enclaves, such as Palma Convention, Cultural Landscape is an area, as Nova or Magaluz, among others. But Mallorca perceived by people, whose character is the re- also has the Serra de Tramuntana, where there sult of the action and reaction of natural and/ are still beaches that can only be reached after a or human factors. This would suggest that the long walk or by boat. On the northeast coast, the aim is not only to maintain the Serra as it is islands of Cabrera and Sa are natural now. It is also to improve human intervention, parks for birdwatchers and are home to species promoting it with sustainable activities in ac- that do not exist in other parts of Europe. cordance with certain objectives.” Quaderns de la Mediterrània 25, 2017: 139-153 141

All this is useful for proposing a series of the domestic goats, which were let loose by the strategic actions or the Serra de Tramuntana owners when they sold the lands or gave up the Management Plan to also achieve the involve- trade. Today, fauna management experts point ment of public and private sectors and eco- out that there is overpopulation of the species, nomic and social agents, as over 90% is private which puts part of the endemic vegetation in property. great danger. They believe that the population should be reduced by two thirds. It is estimated that the total number of wild goats is around Native Goats 20,000 individuals and that in certain areas the density can exceed 0.4 individuals per hectare. This large wild coastal sierra in the northeast Moreover, another problem has emerged: each of the island from Sa Dragonera, to the penin- year greater deterioration of the species is seen sula of Formentor and Alcudia, covers around because new feral goats have brought about 92,000 hectares (a quarter of the area of Mal- the hybridisation of the breed, endangering lorca). It is an area of great biodiversity but not the situation of the native goat, which today especially agricultural. The dry walls (marges) is appreciated again as a unique species with a that have been used to retain the earth in the high hunting value. watercourses and the small valleys today pro- vide much of the charm of the cultural land- Domestic goats were let loose by the scape listed by UNESCO. This is the centenary owners when they sold the lands or gave work of the farmers to plant almond, olive and up the trade. Today, fauna management carob trees and some fruit trees on the edges experts point out that there is and leave room for cultivating some cereals. overpopulation of the species, which puts The villages of the Serra de Tramuntana, in the part of the endemic vegetation in great 19th and 20th centuries, were the main sources danger of emigration to France and Cuba. The moun- tain provided some resources such as making Moreover, the data is unclear but the num- charcoal, ropes made of fan palm and pine ber of goats is estimated at 40,000, although the tree wood for packaging and cages for catching Ministry of the Environment at the Regional goats who feed between woods and cliffs, using Government of the argues an exclusive form of the hunting technique that around 8,000 goats are killed every year. known as can i llaç. This traditional hunting One of the best studies I have found on this now reclaimed as a cultural element involved subject, which has not yet been explored by the capturing the animals alive, especially the kids, anthropological discipline, is by the biologists which were born of the goats that fed on the Joan Antoni Vives and Elena Baraza, with a sug- mountain and were sold for meat. Goats were gestive title: “La cabra doméstica asilvestrada captured in this specific way, as a native breed (capra hircus) en Mallorca. ¿Una especie a er- of sheepdog was used for this kind of hunting, radicar?” (The feral goat (capra hircus) in Mal- a mix of Ibizan hounds and cans de bestiar – to- lorca. A species to be eradicated?) It is a study day Ibizan hounds are also crossed with border using extensive international literature and collies –, in order to corral the goats and, taking summarised as follows: feral goats (capra hir- advantage of the fact that the animals cannot cus) appear in very diverse ecosystems through- escape (enrocar), put the lasso around their out the world. Just like the wild varieties, they necks. But along with these animals there are have a marked effect on the vegetation, are a 142 Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca Maria-Àngels Roque hunting resource and maintain competitive because their diet is enormously varied, in- relations with other ungulates. However, there cluding fruits such as lentisk, acorns, fan palm are very few scientific studies that analyse the fruits, other vegetables such as the tender reed, impact of the feral goat on islands where there wild grass, tender shoots of pine trees or holm were herbivores of more or less similar char- oaks and leaves of a vast group of plants and acteristics, and where the vegetation is clearly shrubs, bushes, heather, rosemary or the bark adapted to deter herbivores (with thorns, toxins, of many trees. growing in rocky areas, etc.). This is the case of Mallorca, where the ancestral presence of an Studies that help understand the endemic ungulate before the arrival of man, real impact of the feral goats on Myotragus balearicus, suggests that herbivores Mediterranean island ecosystems are are an ever present selection factor for the essential, as is the necessary scientific vegetation of the island (Alcover et al., 1999; foundation for the correct management of Altaba, 2000). The first goats introduced on the their populations island resulted in a local variety, the Mallorcan wild goat (C. aegagrus [hircus] ssp.).1 The in- Many other aspects of their biology are troduction of new breeds in more recent times still under study. There is a genetic study that has brought about the establishment of a large forms part of the Recovery Programme for population of feral goats, clearly differentiated the Mallorcan Goat, started eight years ago from the first. Today, they share a habitat and with the morphological, genetic and ecological hybridise, endangering the local ancestral vari- characterisation. In reference to other goats ety. Little is known about the ecology of either from other places, the shortest genetic distance species, whose management is currently based is with the Iberian goats and the Cretan wild on their use for hunting, highly differentiated goat, which indicates a Mediterranean origin, depending on the variety in question. These perhaps based on the basal stem of goats that biologists warn that, given the magnitude of humans spread throughout the northern Medi- the problem, studies that help understand the terranean basin during the Neolithic. real impact of the feral goats on Mediterra- Vives and Baraza (2010: 200) argue that nean island ecosystems are essential, as is the these first results show that we are facing a necessary scientific foundation for the correct case similar to that of the Corsican mouflon management of their populations. Ecologically, or the Cretan wild goat, varieties of domestic the Mallorcan goat has a reproduction rate sheep and goats taken to the Mediterranean lower than the feral goats. Double births are islands by the first Neolithic colonisers. But very scarce, and the females take two years to in contrast to the Mallorcan goat, these spe- reach reproductive maturity. It is said in their cies have been studied for many years and are favour that feeding is also more selective than the object of management, conservation and that of domestic goats, causing less impact on hunting as trophies of world prestige. In this the vegetation, although this is not very clear framework, we must ask about the taxonomi-

1. One of the first species introduced by humans in the Balearic Islands is the goat, an artiodactyl from west Asia. The animals imported in the pre-Talayotic era derive from the bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus), and the Cretan wild goat (Capra aegagrus cretensis) was an intermediate form between the continental ancestor and the feral form in Mallorca, which quickly adapted to the island ecosystems, as has happened with other sheep and goats today on other Mediterranean islands such as the mouflon or the agrimi. Quaderns de la Mediterrània 25, 2017: 139-153 143

Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca.

cal consideration the Mallorcan goat should owners affected on their estates and if we follow have and, by extension, the feral biological the highly abundant references in the press, entities introduced in ecosystems into which magazines, websites and blogs about the feral they have integrated, especially if they act as goat and the Mallorcan wild goat. a key species causing effects on several levels. Therefore, we see that the native goat, in other words Myotragus, disappeared with the arrival The Actors of humans on the island, who later introduced a new goat that integrated into the ecosystem. Since the nineties there has been a confronta- Despite the lack of scientific information, tion between the groups linked to hunting the there is major social interest derived from all Mallorcan goat, who criticise control over feral the environmental, economic and social issues, goats by the Department of the Environment as a consequence of the proliferation of the in some places and also those who defend the goats in recent years, both if we talk with the protection of the vegetation and endemic 144 Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca Maria-Àngels Roque plants. Although the Serra de Tramuntana is mestic goats have been introduced in the feral heritage of humanity, it suffers constant sum- colonies. This has resulted in the birth of many mer fires like that of 2013, in which over 2,300 crossbreed specimens. hectares were burnt in the area of and It is true that today the phenomenon is . Following the last fire, the Consell changing dimension: it is recognised that a de Mallorca is determined to eradicate the collective strategy of managing old breeds is crossbreed goats and, finally, promote hunt- needed. As Hermitte argues, the conservation ing activity as an alternative to sun and beach of certain very particular breeds is linked to a tourism. They consider hunters as visitors with cultural option: “Local breeds can be under- great acquisitive power who come in search of stood in their cultural dimensions. Nostalgic the prized hunting trophy of the billy goat, people will then practise selective breeding popularly known as the Balearen boc (boc mal- aimed at sporting activities. However, the as- lorquí). For this reason, the Consell has trained sociations of amateurs will often link their 60 specialised guides to help hunters in the activity with green agrotourism and integrate Mallorcan mountains to stalk the big machos their hobby into the economic system. These that are in good shape but beginning their bio- breeds threatened by intensive breeding are logical decline. We must keep in mind that the finally conserved through a combination of price for shooting a specimen with imposing urgent private and public actions. The difficulty horns now oscillates between 6,000 and 9,000 comes from the fact that what is alive lives, and euros. In this respect, it seems necessary to com- a short-term subsidy is not enough if the breed bat the plague of feral goats, protect the Mal- does not find some form of economic balance.” lorcan goat from crossbreeding and inadequate (1991: 93). hunting, and regulate good management and use channels such as the game hunting trophy It seems necessary to combat the plague exclusive to Mallorca on the estates that comply of feral goats, protect the Mallorcan with the requisites demanded. goat from crossbreeding and inadequate One of the tasks of the new guides will be hunting, and regulate good management to select the individuals, identifying and shoot- and use channels such as the game ing crossbreeds with the objective of purifying hunting trophy exclusive to Mallorca on the breed. At the same time, the machos with the estates that comply with the requisites bigger horns will be selected so that hunting demanded tourists can get the most out of their rifles. The Consell de Mallorca understands that It is not easy to work from the anthropo- sustainable use of the Mallorcan goat as a big- logical discipline on subjects that have great game hunting trophy is a very interesting way economic importance like tourism, which in the of conserving it. Currently, there are six game last forty years has been a mass phenomenon. reserves in Mallorca prepared for the capture Nogués Pedregal sets out a genealogy of the of goats as a hunting trophy: Formentor, Es difficult relationship between social anthro- Teix, Ternelles, Cala Murta, La Victoria and pology and tourism and of the indifference of Sollerich. Other estates in Mallorca, especially many academics to everything related to the in the Serra de Tramuntana, are studying how subject despite honourable exceptions such as to adapt their game reserve to big-game hunt- transcultural studies (2009: 52-53). ing regulations, as the crossbreed goats do not In Beatriz Santamarina’s account of what count and, as we said, in the last 50 years do- the elements linked to nature and culture Quaderns de la Mediterrània 25, 2017: 139-153 145 have meant in anthropology, I think that an Club International 39th Annual Hunters Con- interesting and useful approach in this article vention in Reno (USA). One of the priorities is related to the perspective of the politicisation was to promote the activity and work with this of representations. A subject that Eric Wolf had association and, of course, promote the boc mal- already started to explain by placing the em- lorquí. This convention is the most important phasis between the local and the global: “Each contest of this kind internationally, and since mode of production will form an ‘ecology of 2005 the Balearen boc has been included as a collective representations’ and here it is possible hunting trophy in the SCI list, which re-values to observe the processes of selection and the the animal in the market. Following her expe- practice of power” (1982: 171). Jeremy Boisse- rience in the convention, to which Mallorcans vain created an anthropological discourse about were especially invited by the organisers, the Malta, another Mediterranean island, where Minister of the Environment explained that he presents to us the perceptions of the diverse “it is an interesting activity because it helps the actors (1996; Roque, 2000). Undoubtedly, the estates to survive” and “it is ecologically sus- development of political ecology involves a new tainable.” In this respect, Tugores mentioned effort in understanding the ideological links the high income they receive for offering this underlining any ecological representation, and product, “which enables maintenance of the I second the following: “The inclusion of the lo- mountain estates and the landscape of the Serra cal and the global in the analyses, the emphasis de Tramuntana, so important for our island.” on showing that the practices of the discourses, as historical and cultural products, condition The system for promoting these estates our relations with the environment, revealing and their activities is based on constituting that there are distinct material and social logics associations that take advantage of the that determine our relation with the environ- facilities provided by the Consell de ment and that there are other possible forms Mallorca and also its political power of shaping the natural links are contributions that invite us to a new consideration of the In 2011, 40 bocs were hunted annually in ecological beyond traditional determinisms of the five big-game hunting reserves. This cor- our culture” (Santamarina, 2008: 177). responds to the number of users involved in We could say that, in Mallorca, the subject this activity on the island, so that everyone of goats is centuries old, but it was at the start shoots a specimen and most people involved are of the nineties that it was relaunched for di- outsiders. It is, according to the Ministry of the verse reasons, such as the recovery of the native Environment, another tourist attraction outside Mallorcan breeds. In the first decade of the the summer season. The system for promoting 21st century a comprehensive mechanism was these estates and their activities is based on con- introduced that benefited the big estates on the stituting associations that take advantage of the northern Mallorcan coast. facilities provided by the Consell de Mallorca In fact, there were five game reserves of this and also its political power. kind in the early 2000s – Cala Murta, La Vic- toria, Formentor, Es Teix and Ternelles – that formed part of the Asociación de Cotos de Caza. Fire The Minister of the Environment at the Au- tonomous Government of the Balearic Islands, The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fish- Marilena Turgores, participated in the Safari eries, Food and Environment notes that 95% of 146 Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca Maria-Àngels Roque forest fires are due to human action: careless- 50 guides to help hunters from all over the ness, absent-mindedness, imprudence, lack world to catch the prized billy goat for 9,000 of attention, irresponsibility or pyromaniac euros a piece.” In a column in the same news- behaviour. On 26 July 2013 a fire began in the paper, the columnist Miquel Adrover noted that Serra de Tramuntana that razed 2,347 hectares “the guides will sacrifice goats” and also “will of forest, where different types of animals also help to reduce the population to prevent them live, including the Mallorcan wild goat we are from devouring the reforestation following the discussing. At first it was believed that the cause fire in the Serra.” had been the burning of stubble, a practice normally undertaken by peasant farmers to Government, Consell and hunters reached clean the estates, but it was actually started by a an agreement to carry out this goat cull. barbecue. On 30 July it was confirmed who was However, some animal defence groups responsible and how the fire developed. The criticised the decision and demanded an Agencia EFE released the news, reproduced in alternative to sacrificing goats several national newspapers: “The fire began at midday in the town of Catalina Soler, Head of the Department Andratx. The man admitted that, with his of the Environment, explained that the new brother and two friends, he prepared a barbecue guides trained by the Consell de Mallorca on their estate in Andratx. They used a metal would perform another important function: wheelbarrow to cook, where the hot coals re- “they will sacrifice crossbreed goats in the mained after the barbecue. The next day, the burnt area of Andratx and Estellencs.” The man tipped what he thought were only ashes objective was to reduce the numerous wild into bushes, but in fact there were still some goat population in the area to avoid slowing hot coals that ignited the fire, which neither down the reforestation of the 2,335 hectares. the man nor his brother could put out in those To reforest so many burnt hectares it would be first few moments. The residents of the town of necessary to plant millions of pine trees and Estellencs were gradually able to return to their shrubs throughout the area devastated by the homes yesterday afternoon. In the early hours fire. They planted young shoots of 10 centime- of Sunday morning around 250 residents had tres in height cultivated in the public nursery been moved as a precaution, as well as another of Menut (Escorca). The technicians’ fear was 450 people, who were tourists or non-residents that the goats could devour the young trees visiting the area.” and frustrate the reforestation. Government, Both the Regional Government of the Consell and hunters reached an agreement to Balearic Islands and the associations involved carry out this goat cull. However, some ani- used the media to keep citizens, who were quite mal defence groups criticised the decision and sceptical, informed about the work being car- demanded an alternative to sacrificing goats. ried out after the disaster. They did not say that For its part, the newspaper Ara Balears an- preventative measures have diminished, such nounced on 5 April 2014 that the commission as the helicopters that keep watch and warn of “Tot(s) per sa Serra!” would allocate 355,270 any outbreaks of fire. One of the restoration euros to the restoration of 90 hectares burnt in plans was to start a culling campaign so that the fire. The commission was formed by the forest regeneration is not slowed down. Regional Government of the Balearic Islands, On 22 August 2013 the following story ap- the Consell de Mallorca and the town councils peared in newspapers: “The Consell authorised of Andratx, Estellencs and Calvià, and the Quaderns de la Mediterrània 25, 2017: 139-153 147

Goat grazing in a private house, Mallorca (Maria-Àngels Roque).

money came from donations from organisa- burnt. Leaving aside the measures adopted to tions, companies and private individuals made maintain as a priority the safety of goods and since the previous August: “Some planned infrastructure, among others, we should note actions have already been implemented and soil erosion control measures, repairing paths others are underway or will soon be carried or improving the landscape through the partial out. We highlight the cleaning and removal elimination of dead wood, in addition to arti- of 2,000 burnt trees from the edges of the road ficial regeneration.” and the building of revetments.” The news rolled on and the website of the Department of the Environment, @xarxafor- Hunting Tourism estal, announced quite optimistically: “Ten months have passed and the vegetation of the Undoubtedly, tourism is not a trivial subject. forest of the burnt area has strongly regener- When we talk about tourism we are talking ated from the first rains, at the end of last sum- about second homes of both foreigners and mer. Both in terms of the species that re-sprout Spaniards who have bought chalets or apart- and the germinators, the vegetation covered the ments or who stay in hotel resorts or country bare parts, albeit slowly and gradually. More­ estates dedicated to rural tourism (I would say, over, in the framework of the restoration plan rather, country tourism). in the area affected by the fire, a series of ac- Echoing several international studies, tions have been carried out from the moment it Santana Talavera argues that: “Ecotourism was extinguished, with a total of 2,347 hectares or environmental tourism has been defined 148 Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca Maria-Àngels Roque as ‘trips to natural areas relatively unchanged From Son Moragas to the area of Tossals Verds, or uncontaminated with the specific object of where Antonio hunted a beautiful wild goat. studying, admiring and enjoying the landscape, […] In that period we hunted on the estates flora, fauna, as well as the cultural manifesta- of the Regional Government of the Balearic tions (past and present) characteristic of these Islands and the Consell de Mallorca, and per- areas on a nature journey that respects host mits were obtained with few problems. And communities’ ” (2002: 4). although the rules changed from year to year, normally priority was given to hunting selective It all began in the late nineties. I read specimens, feral goats, although wild bocs could about a trophy that I thought was for feral also be hunted. There was great fondness – and goats. I soon went to Mallorca with the still is – among Mallorcan hunters for killing sound intention of meeting Bernardí and, cabrits (kids), which are specimens of up to one also, hunting a goat in what looked like a year old and a delicious gastronomic ‘trophy’. wild and imposing landscape Moreover, the capture of wild goats (cabres fines) using lassos and dogs has always been Within some areas of the Serra de Tramun- traditional, a hunting technique well rooted in tana, we cannot say that the role of outsiders Mallorca for centuries that can still be practised has always been harmful when buying houses today. In recent years, it has also been possible in towns such as S’Arracó, in the municipal to hunt with a bow, which has increasingly district of Andratx, many of them almost de- more followers. I really enjoyed myself in Cala stroyed. Foreigners have been more determined Moritx. […] Pep Mejías welcomed me to his to reform them following tradition, while the hunting reserve in Cala Murta.” locals, in the sixties and seventies, built apart- The wild goats (cabres fines) of Tramuntana ments and housing developments that had not only attract hunting but also provide an nothing to do with the local architecture and interesting ecosystem, as they are hunted in at the time were often poor quality. We could the cliffs by the sea of this rugged coast. This extend this to other parts of Mallorca. represents diverse incentives, the first is the tro- If someone is interested in knowing how phy of the animal, the landscape, a gastronomy and where to go to hunt the Mallorcan boc, that is also local, because in contrast to inter- the best thing they can do is enter the website national food offered by tourist operators, the where they will find videos and offers. I would pictures feature charcuterie and typical dishes repeat, for example, the www.club-caza.com of top quality in the lunches of the hunters captiva!8/19/20, written by Adolfo Sanz with who stay on the hunting estates. This is the illustrations by Xavier Canyelles, because it is attraction of a Mediterranean island trying a representative example, a mix of blog and to promote a type of tourism with more eco- advertising, which I summarise with a few of nomic resources. If rural tourism has involved the author’s words: “It all began in the late the commercialisation of an area known for nineties. I read about a trophy that I thought practising hobbies, in this case we can say that was for feral goats. I soon went to Mallorca with the hobby is hunting. the sound intention of meeting Bernardí and, Santana Talavera (2002: 15) argues that all also, hunting a goat in what looked like a wild the products and activities commercialised as and imposing landscape. I had never been to the such, related to rural tourism, revolve around island, I must admit. […] Mallorca entrapped nature and culture, indivisible as a landscape me hopelessly. […] Let’s hunt, yes, let’s hunt! and inspired by a kind of environmental sensa- Quaderns de la Mediterrània 25, 2017: 139-153 149 tionalism in which the countryside and tourism look at the actors that participated in the debate attraction are seen as the same thing. In this and the different postures maintained during case, linked to rifles. the confrontation. Bartomeu Seguí, Doctor of Zoology and Head of the Hunting Service at the Consell de Debate on Sacrificing Feral Goats Mallorca, revealed that in Mallorca there is real overpopulation of goats. Specifically, he pointed One of the areas affected by fire was La Trapa, out there are around 14,000 specimens, even a mountain estate of 81 hectares located in though every day around 800 are eliminated. the southeast of the Serra de Tramuntana, Seguí defended the selective elimination of in the municipal district of Andratx, which impure goats to maintain the native kid. He was acquired in 1980 by the Grup Balear recalled that in Mallorca there are seven large d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa (GOB) game hunting reserves where hunters from thanks to popular and institutional support all over Europe can pay up to 10,000 euros to with the aim of preserving it and conserving catch a billy goat specimen with large horns. its values threatened by a plotting and housing This is the so-called Trofeo de Caza (Hunting development project. The GOB has always, and Trophy), which attracts more followers every now more than ever, defended the eradication year. Tomeu Berga, director of Gestión Ambi- of goats because, for this association, goats are ental y Cinegética (GAC) in Formentor, shared one of the biggest environmental problems of the same opinion. He proposed appropriate the forests of Mallorca. management with the culling of crossbreed goats and enhancing the Trofeo de Caza – he In 2014 an intense debate began among is the instigator of the prize –. Joan Mayol, hunters who wanted to maintain the goats Head of the Service of Species Protection at the and the Regional Government officers, Regional Government of the Balearic Islands, who considered that they were a threat questioned the difference between the pure to reforestation of the Serra, and argue Mallorcan goat and the crossbreeds. He argued that overpopulation of goats was seriously that the goat “is an invasive and harmful spe- threatening the sites, the endemic plants cies that, among other things, impedes the and reforestation reforestation of areas devastated by the fires.” Mayol pointed out that the problem with the In 2014 an intense debate began among goats resulted from abandonment of crop areas hunters who wanted to maintain the goats and and the management of the farms. He proposed the Regional Government officers, who con- greater control of the population. sidered that they were a threat to reforestation Pep Lluís Gradaille, Director of the of the Serra, and argue that overpopulation of Botanical Garden in Sóller, held the same goats was seriously threatening the sites, the opinion: “We are completely opposed to endemic plants and reforestation. However, goats that devastate endemic plants unique there was an important group of hunters who in the world and that have a very important wanted to maintain them to continue with heritage value.” He recalled that the goat hunting. It was impossible to find common is an introduced species and proposed that ground between these two postures in the hunters help control the population of this intense and participatory debate organised by plague and preserve the vegetal heritage. the Club Diario de Mallorca on this issue. Let’s Several groups of hunters among the audience 150 Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca Maria-Àngels Roque criticised the claims of Mayol and Gradaille problem is sacrificing the animals. The associa- and defended the persistence of the goats as tion wanted to ask the commission to resume an important economic activity. Therefore, talks and find an alternative solution which they argued there is a big difference, proven by did not include sacrificing these specimens. At experts, between the native and the crossbreed the same time, the association AnimaNaturalis goat. However, Mayol responded that the dev- (animal rights defenders) conducted an online astating effects on the environment are caused protest campaign against the massacre of goats. equally by all breeds. In its proposal sent by internet it asked: “Are the goats responsible for the fire that has devastated Are the goats responsible for the fire the area? Hasn’t part of the problem been the that has devastated the area? Hasn’t part fact that the preventative tasks have not been of the problem been the fact that the carried out correctly due to cuts? We find this preventative tasks have not been carried decision totally unacceptable and premeditated. out correctly due to cuts? They should consider other options that do not involve exterminating animals. Perhaps a The audience actively participated, some- campaign of selective sterilisation to stop the times almost heatedly. The animal rights population from increasing too quickly and groups intervened to condemn the human thereby facilitating proper natural reforesta- species wanting to control the goat population. tion. Perhaps a volunteering campaign to help Moreover, they criticised the fact that “people with tasks of sowing or spreading seeds or even talk about eliminating thousands of goats with- to relocate the animals in other areas with more out taking into account a code of ethics that vegetation.” considers that goats suffer and have feelings.” Moreover, in an interview given on the same The naturalist Xavier Canyelles was respon- dates, Biel Capó, from the association Caçadors sible for responding to these groups: “Among amb llaç d’Artà, expressed the opinion that other things, humans control goats because the elimination of the goats would mean the they can think while goats cannot.” According irreparable loss of a unique genetic value with to him, the response won the applause of the an important ecological and economic value. hunters. Among the audience was Catalina Moreover, the mountains would fill up with Soler, Balearic Minister for the Environment, reed and undergrowth, which in the case of and Neus Lliteres, Director of the Directorate fire is like gunpowder. Capó pointed out that General of the Environment at the Regional you only need walk around the mountains of Government of the Balearic Islands. the Betlem residential area to see that it is very Continuing the debate in the media, we difficult to get through, and that now there are read again on 19 March 2014 that the Asso- very few specimens of goats. His association ciació de Caçadors de Cabrits amb Cans i Llaç, will continue fighting against this eradication an association that brings together over one and, if necessary, will appeal to the European hundred members from 15 towns in Mallorca, courts of justice. Those who argue that the goats expressed concern about the policy being car- are worse than the fire and cement, should ried out by the Ministry of the Environment ask themselves if the last fires in Andratx or at the Regional Government of the Balearic Artà have caused as much damage as the goats Islands that, apparently, is aimed at eradicating can cause. The goats are blamed for the pine the goat from the mountains of Mallorca. They groves not growing, and it is true that the goats criticised the argument that the solution to the can cause some damage to the specimens of Quaderns de la Mediterrània 25, 2017: 139-153 151 young pine trees that grow, but, according to be invented, argues Hermitte (1991: 87): “For Biel Capó, in Mallorca there have been goats a long time a variety has been replaced with and pine trees for five thousand years. Both are a well-intentioned conservation strategy.” In necessary for the ecosystem. The important the course of the ecological movement, things thing is how many specimens we have in the change their nature, because the objective of mountains constantly, to be able to control them some was to put on the commercial circuit the within a population ratio that does not damage old varieties that, in many countries, could the ecosystem. To achieve this, a negotiating be conserved, but not sold, because they were table is needed between all parties. The solution considered outdated, therefore unsellable from is not to completely eradicate the Mallorcan the perspective of defending the quality of goat from our mountains. the products, which in Mallorca has changed radically. In this frame of mind, we could ask ourselves, just like Alain Roger, if there is an Are We Talking about Landscape or animal protection law, which he himself an- Ecosystem? swers: “Not strictly speaking.” The ecological interest demands long-term calculation, in Following this debate in Mallorca, we see that which numerous parameters are considered the concept of biodiversity has been attract- although they are not exclusively economic ing new followers, and the local communities (1991: 15). with their ecosystems – what there is in their current ecosystems – have been regarded as Following this debate in Mallorca, we see heritage of humanity. This debate is develop- that the concept of biodiversity has been ing between groups that present themselves as attracting new followers, and the local defenders of nature, in this case of the Serra communities with their ecosystems – what de Tramuntana, but let’s recall that this always there is in their current ecosystems – have follows the premise of the European Landscape been regarded as heritage of humanity Convention, “as perceived by people.” This convention suggests that it is not only about Today the goats, as has been the case for maintaining the territory of the Serra as it is at millennia, do not have a predator. Even dogs present, but also “to improve human interven- that kill other animals prefer sheep, which are tion, promoting it with sustainable activities in easier to attack than goats. Most of the active accordance with certain objectives.” Of course, estates in Tramuntana and Llevant are used for the objectives vary according to the position of dry farming (olive, carob and almond trees); the group. It is not a debate between nature and in terms of stock breeding, the big estates also culture, as in the case of the Serra it forms a have sheep, so that cereal crops are used espe- whole, nor between urbanisation and conserva- cially for feeding this livestock. tionism. The controversy we present is basically Moreover, for the peasant farmers the pine between associations that consider themselves was and is a plague, as it has widely replaced conservationists: those that seek to protect the other species such as holm oaks. The pine tree plants and those that seek to protect the goats, was felled and eradicated in the marjades, the latter within certain parameters. slightly inclined terraces for agricultural pur- In terms of the interdependence dictated poses. The fires on the estates of the town of by the idea of ecosystem, the legal concept Andratx have revealed the dry walls built in that will enable us to understand it is yet to the 19th century before the migrations, which 152 Between Environmental Ecology and Hunting Tourism. Goats in the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca Maria-Àngels Roque reached the top of the comellars to prepare the kind of idea is present in the new discourse crops. Covered by the bushy undergrowth and of the hunting authorities developing a new the pine trees, it seemed that the latter had ethics, a new image of the sports and protec- always been there. In the forests they made tive hunter, a discourse that seeks to justify a charcoal with wild olive trees and another type practice that has lost much of its legitimacy of wood, better than the Mediterranean pine. in public opinion. Ecologists (militants) and The abandonment of unprofitable estates has environmentalists (scientists) have the oppor- caused scrub to spread, a type of very alcoholic tunity to condemn the discrepancy between the shrub that burns easily but also regenerates, as management intentions of hunting authorities in the case of the fan palm (garballó). Return- in terms of fauna and the reality of the destruc- ing to the town of Andratx, facing the island of tive practices of most hunters; for the adversar- Sa Dragonera there were goats that had owners ies of hunting it would simply mean, according although they took them to the mountain. They to the classic process, hiding the reality of the were the new more productive goats, those that practices for the sake of the discourse and the were abandoned and that now appear especially protectionist aims would act as ideological in summer when the land in the rural estates compensation. Vourch and Pelousse see that dries up, eating the gardens and the bark of this association between hunting and protec- the fruit trees. tion also forms part of the institutional level of the administrative organisation of hunting It is interesting to consider that, in a wider management (1991: 210), an aspect that we context, modern society fully participates corroborate for Mallorca. The disappearance in the imaginary of the wild, of the of rabbits with myxomatosis made hunters in natural, in a compensatory projection Cévannes turn to the wild boar. In Mallorca, the of the irreversible destruction of the devotion to hunting goats is more complex, as environment. since ancient times we know that people have taken goats to the mountains for this purpose. Anne Vourch and Valentin Pelosse It is interesting to consider that, in a wider (1988:191) wonder about wild production: context, modern society fully participates in “How to reconcile the hunting idea of the old the imaginary of the wild, of the natural, in solitary animal that attacks, the wild boar, with a compensatory projection of the irreversible the reality of the hybrids that make up most destruction of the environment. Moreover, on of the hunting species today?” We cannot say some estates of the Consell de Mallorca natural that in Mallorca, interest in the wild goat or parks are opened where it is hoped to recreate fina is only the result of the international hunt- and protect the “pure” species, a concept that in ing trade. From the 1980s there was concern Mallorca is taking root to attract the resources with the local nature of the animals, an aspect of hunting tourism or those who want to ob- also present in the peninsula. Payere and Pons serve nature. (1991) warn, with respect to the Mallorcan goat The legitimised representation of hunting or fina, that it was in serious danger of extinc- by the institutions is linked to the defence of tion and only conserved on the estates of the the viability of agriculture as in other parts of Serra de Tramuntana, living alongside other old Europe. The notion of the defence of wild types of goats without selection or organisation. fauna in relation to hunting is not expressly de- In the 1980s, in France, relating hunting veloped just to allow a minimum reproduction and fauna protection was quite a new idea. This of the animals but so that hunting is regulated, Quaderns de la Mediterrània 25, 2017: 139-153 153 as we see in the different statements issued by Jacorzynski, W., Entre sueños de la razón: filosofía the Consell de Mallorca. y antropología de las relaciones entre hombre y ambiente, Mexico, CESAS, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 2007. 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