The Diputació de Barcelona is an institution of local government, which provides technical, economic and technological support to local councils and coordinates municipal services and organises public services of a supramunicipal nature. Its key strategies include environmental protection and sustainable land management. The Barcelona Provincial Council's Network of Natural Parks, made up of 12 protected natural areas, guarantees environmental balance and territorial management to 100 municipalities, covering an area of 102,587 hectares, and represents 22% of the metropolitan area where 70% of the population of Catalonia lives.

The Diputació de Barcelona, together with the Diputació de Girona, manage the Natural Park and Reservation of the Biosphere of the Montseny (PN-RB Montseny), which is made up of a mosaic of Mediterranean and Central European landscapes. Its extraordinary biodiversity and the cultural heritage that man has left behind since the Iberians' presence (4th century BC) justify its first protection in 1928 and the subsequent ones in the democratic stage (Special Urban Plan, Natural Park, Biosphere Reserve, PEIN, Habitats Directive). Since its creation in 1977, the Montseny PN-RB has consolidated a management team and a budget that has enabled active management, summarised in the annual management reports (http://parcs.diba.cat/web/montseny/memories-de-gestio).

Photo: Daniel Guinart.