The President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, and the Minister for Sustainable Development, José Luis Escudero, visited the Plitvice Lakes National Park on Tuesday, as part of the institutional visit they are carrying out these days on the occasion of the twinning of this protected area with the Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park, together with the Spanish ambassador to Croatia, Juan González Barba, and an institutional delegation from the Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, headed by the general director of Protection of the Nature, Igor Kreitmeyer.

In the presence of President Emiliano García-Page and Councilor José Luis Escudero, the formalization of the technical signature was carried out between the directors of both parks, Lagunas de Ruidera, Ignacio Mosqueda, and Plitvice Lakes, Tomislav Kovačević, respectively, which will mark the beginning of this collaboration agreement between both protected areas, "with which we hope to share experience and knowledge about the management of both areas and biodiversity, since both Plitvice and Ruidera are a symbol of pride for both territories and both receive thousands of visitors a year”, as José Luis Escudero has pointed out.

The Minister of Sustainable Development has listed the three common challenges or pillars on which the technical agreement signed today is based, such as improving visitor access to these natural spaces; the promotion of the investigation of the singular elements that both parks share, such as the travertine barriers (the unique geomorphological formations in Europe that they share); and the sum of forces since the two spaces belong to the European Natura 2000 Network.

"With this objective, we are going to work on a common project focused on obtaining European funds and promoting conservation," said Escudero, who stressed that the important thing about this agreement "is working together to face challenges that are very similar and in a context of climate change that urgently needs to be addressed”.

After the signing and in attention to the media, the councilor José Luis Escudero has announced the "imminent investment", of more than 2.1 million euros, for the start-up of the conservation brigades of the natural parks, « a desire and a commitment to our protected areas in the region.” The main objective is to reinforce the maintenance and conservation of natural spaces and their installations and equipment for public use, as well as to improve visitor access to the areas with the greatest influx or the information they receive about these spaces.

During the introduction of the explanation on the Croatian National Park with those responsible for the Ministry and the park itself, in which the general director of the Environment and Biodiversity, Félix Romero, also participated, the councilor José Luis Escudero highlighted the importance of twinning with this space that "also has recognition as a World Heritage Site, like the Mancha Húmeda Biosphere Reserve, where the Ruidera Lagoons are located."

On the other hand, the Minister of Sustainable Development has pointed out that "protecting our natural heritage is a task for everyone, administrations, entities and the business sector, and for this reason, we have worked together with the population on the new Master Plan for the Use and Management of space that will be a shock and will socially, economically and environmentally benefit the natural space.

In this sense, Escudero has advanced that this summer, facing the weekends of July and August, two bus lines will begin to circulate precisely on weekends free of charge for passengers, between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., with an approximate frequency of one hour, to visit all the lagoons, hotels, restaurants, and with one leaving from the municipalities of Ruidera and the other from Ossa de Montiel.

"The idea is to improve the access and transit of visitors, avoiding crowds at times of maximum influx and greater risk of forest fires," said the counselor. For this, in addition, next year two dissuasive car parks will be set up both in Ruidera and in Ossa de Montiel, which will have an investment of approximately 120,000 euros.

In this way, the counselor has recalled that, in the commitment to the Lagunas de Ruidera, 1.5 million has been allocated for the new Interpretation Center; two million for the digitalization project and the modernization of the equipment for public use; almost one million for the improvement of the roads of the park in collaboration with the provincial councils of Ciudad Real and Albacete; and 125,000 for the new base of the forest fire checkpoint.

Finally, José Luis Escudero has pointed out that "from the regional government, we want to promote sustainable tourism beyond the summer season and that people come to enjoy them throughout the year." To this end, he highlighted the improvement of infrastructures, such as the new road that encourages the use of bicycles, routes and paths, as well as the new interpretation center, inaugurated by President Emiliano García-Page on April 25 and through which Some 4,000 people have already passed by, "a great success that encourages us to continue advancing towards promoting the sustainability of the entire protected area".