PYREPAX – Past, present, and future of the Pyrenean pastures

ongoing

For centuries, the relationships between Pyrenean valleys were regulated by pacts called “pacerías”. These agreements were intended to maintain peace between valleys (hence their name, which derives from the Latin word “pax”), and to regulate the ownership and use of the natural resource which was at the basis of the Pyrenean communities: grassland. The pacerías between valleys on the same side of the frontier have received little historiographical attention, and their environmental dimension has barely been studied. PYREPAX focuses on the agreements regarding two mountain pastures in the Aragonese Pyrenees, Guarrinza and Cerbillonar. Each of them was a common of two valleys, the former of Ansó and Echo, and the latter of Panticosa and Broto. The project examines the pacerías, the practices associated with them, and their role in shaping the environment since the mid-eighteenth century. More widely, PYREPAX studies the reciprocal influences between society and nature, and the co-evolution of those relationships across time. The project intends to explain why and how the relationships between human societies and nature have changed by examining the evolution of the pacerías and the practices related to them. Furthermore, PYREPAX examines the current situation of the pastures and the communities from a historical perspective and through an interdisciplinary approach (ecology and environmental economy), by carrying out fieldwork, surveys, and interviews. In the last phase, the project will put into dialogue the ancient pacts with local actors, natural scientists, and regional management authorities with a view to redesigning some pacerías, thus creating permanent fora for debate based on interdisciplinary scientific knowledge, providing tools for bettter management of the pastures, promoting economic activity such as extensive livestock breeding, fixing population in rural areas, and, in short, achieving social, scientific, economic, and environmental benefits.