Keys to the recognition of the dehesa as UNESCO "cultural landscape"

Abstract

The Spanish dehesa and its Portuguese correspondance (montado) are Mediterranean agrarian-forestrypastoral systems projecting an outstanding landscape whith big heritage values. On them loom new or renewed threats that compromise their future at a time (the current) with an increasing social and institutional revaluation of these landscapes. Its nomination as an Unesco cultural landscape can provide a powerful tool to deal with these threats, but requires the clarification of certain questions related to the scales. This paper delves into the dehesa outstanding universal value and offers some clues to support their possible incorporation into the Unesco World Heritage List. Analysis undertakes at the level of types of landscape, but some criteria are advanced for the selection of concrete and representative areas capable of integrating a nomination as a serial property.