Background Spain has a rich historical and cultural heritage of mining. Some of the country’s many mining sites have been abandoned for a long time. In others, their history lives on. In the Sierra mountain range in the most south eastern part of the Murcia for example, intense mining activity for the extraction of minerals began some 2,500 years ago and continues today. However, mining activities have significant negative effects on the environment; large quantities and different types of waste are produced. These vast quantities of waste and toxic substances are usually disposed of in the land around the mines themselves, and inevitably lead to contamination of the soil and water. This project seeks in to restore and conserve Spain’s historical heritage of mining in the Sierra mountain range while at the same time encouraging environmentally-conscious tourism activities. Objectives The JARA project aimed to promote sustainable tourism to help overcome the existing environmental problems in an area - the Sierra Minera of Cartagena-La Unión - which has been ravaged by mining activities and provide an alternative to the prevalent mass tourism model. The operational objectives were: 1. To develop a strategy for environmental and cultural tourism, with an evaluation of the risks and the environmental bearing capacity of the area. 2. To identify and recover cattle paths and roadways and linking these routes to places of cultural or natural interest in the area. This was to be a means of facilitating public/recreational/tourist/cultural use of a area which has suffered from a problem of land ownership i.e. the land was in the hands of the company responsible for the former mining operations. 3. To carry out environmental restoration pilot experiences, restore the mining heritage in the area and link these activities to sustainable tourism projects. 4. To develop integrated tourism products, with genuine respect for the environment. 5. To generate knowledge, methodologies and skills which could be transferred throughout the region of the Sierra Minera and to other areas with similar problems. Results The main objectives of the project (to promote a new model of sustainable tourism by means of the creation of an eco-cultural tourist service in a region suffering from extensive environmental damage and a socio-economic crisis and to establish general criteria to carry it out in similar sites/circumstances) have been achieved and the results could be considered as satisfactory as regards the environmental restoration and recovery to the public use of an area which was abandoned by the Public Administrations for years. As a result of the actions carried out during the project, not only were the public very interested in visiting the area but the Public Administrations were also going to consider extending similar actions to different sites of the Sierra Minera-La Unión. The project was preceded by an in-depth preparation process, undertaken by a team of qualified professionals (architects, biologists, sociologists, etc.). This process was informed by the analysis and conclusions set forth in the following projects and studies: • Proyecto Araar (1998-99), co-financed by the European Commission and the CARM, within the framework of the “Acción Piloto Tercer Sistema y Empleo”. A wide-ranging study on employment in the sectors related to the improvement of the environment and cultural heritage was carried out. Using this study, the technical documentation on the “Project for Restoration of the Matilde and Blanca Mines and Surrounding Area” was prepared. • Feasibility study carried out in the framework of the Proyecto Araar (1999) on the possibilities for a business project in this sector of ecological and cultural tourism in the Sierra Minera, confirming its economic viability. • “Proyecto Huerto Pío” promoted by the Sierra Minera Foundation and co-financed through the PRODER Programme. This project entailed the creation of an environmental park and silvicultural operation based on “Sabina Mora” and other native species with possibilities for use in environmental restoration processes for soils contaminated by mining. An important dimension of the Jara project was the holistic approach it had to providing a response to various problems such as environmental degradation, socio-economic crisis and the deterioration and loss of value in a cultural heritage. The project can be a reference point for the restoration and regeneration of the entirety of Sierra Minera, and act as a model for other areas of Spain and the rest of Europe which are affected by the abandonment of mining. Significant results of the projects included: - The restoration of the Las Matildes mine which has been turned into a modern Mining and Environmental Interpretation Centre of the Sierra Minera, offering a new model of sustainable tourism in the area. - The setting up of an integrated cultural and ecological tourism service, which offers a wide variety of guided tours throughout the area. - The recovery of cattle routes and ways in the surroundings of the Sierra Minera of Cartagena-La Unión. - The environmental restoration of the area around the two mines ('Matilde' and 'Blanca'). - 3 direct jobs (eco-cultural guides) and 7 indirect jobs (support personnel) linked to the Mining-Environmental Interpretation Centre were created in the “Mina Matilde”. This is important because the region has suffered from general environmental damage and a socio-economic crisis when the mining activity was stopped. Dissemination and related actions were a weak point of the project. Activities foreseen at the international level were not carried within the project duration. According to the “After LIFE Communication Plan” these were to be carried out in October/December 2005. The costs related to these activities were to be covered by the co-financers of the project. A seminar on sustainable tourism was planned to take place in Cartagena from 30 March to 2 April 2006.