As testified by numerous archaeological sites – among them castles, hydraulic infrastructure and religious buildings – for many centuries the Guadix region has been inhabited by communities whose livelihoods have been linked to very sensitive and meticulous water management systems designed to support their agro-pastoral systems.

These systems have contributed to shaping the landscapes in a significant way, conditioning productive activities and territorial organization, including settlements and communication routes. Up in the mountains, melted snow is redirected down channels called acequias. Not only do these water the mountain slopes, creating pastures, they also artificially recharge aquifers, whose water gushes out of the earth hundreds of metres lower down in the valleys, where it is used again to irrigate highly productive agricultural fields.

This immeasurable intangible treasure, which has the potential to contribute to a more sustainable way of life and to food production, as well as to the reduction of local temperatures in the face of global climate change, is nowadays threatened by massive depopulation.

Communities who have protected this territory for centuries are now forced to abandon it because of a lack of opportunity, leaving ever increasing space for irresponsible practices such as intensive agriculture and pig farming, which are slowly corrupting the ecobalance of the territory.

The best means of protection is to reactivate and energise traditional, sustainable and multi-functional agricultural production and to recognise its value both culturally and ecologically, implementing complementary payment mechanisms for land stewardship and leisure services. A good example of this is the co-creation of cultural trails along historical irrigation channels that raise awareness about the importance of these systems.

Local communities can count on several allies, and IRIS researchers are in the front line here. Their intervention goes beyond documentation and research, using a participatory approach to reactivate and empower local communities, preserving and recovering abandoned agricultural spaces, and bringing to life the ancient settlements that created these landscapes.

In collaboration with local communities, our researchers have restored and monitored irrigation systems, recovered abandoned agricultural spaces and discovered new archaeological sites in order to demonstrate on a broader level their unique value and advocate for their urgent protection.