A SUSTAINABLE ANDORRA. NOW!
Explanatory document of the campaign / manifest

United Nations declared 2002 International Year of Mountains with the global objective to recognize mountainous zones as fragile ecosystems and of ecological importance at the planetary level, developing Chapter 13 of the Global Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

According to the Brundltland Report (1987) “ S.D. is the development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, improving quality of life and respecting the carrying capacity of earth.”

Article 31 of the Andorran Constitution affirms that " It is the role of the state to look for the rational use of the soil and of all the natural resources, in order to guarantee to everyone a decent quality of life and to restore and maintain for the future generations futures an ecological balance in the atmosphere, the water, and the land, and to defense the native flora and fauna.” International conventions ratified by the Andorran State also defend the same approach.

The origin of the Campaign

Ten years after the Earth Summit, it is obvious that Andorra keeps far away from the path of sustainability. The Campaign for the Sustainable Development of Andorra appears in a moment when a good proportion of the Andorran citizens are facing and taking the measure of the social and environmental problems derived from an uncontrolled growth. Lately, we’ve seen it very clear: water contamination, air and soil pollution due to the waste incinerating plant of La Comella, accelerated urbanization, loss of landscape quality, mass tourism, permanent traffic collapse, ski resort extensions...

The administration is elaborating plans and projects of great impact for the future of the country: national waste plan, air metro, etc... We believe that they are not sustainable the way they are projected. The fact that those projects are not submitted to a real and open public participation process in the elaboration, or decision-taking steps is also a source of great concern.

Andorra is based on a model of permanent and unsustainable increase of all the parameters that define its structure, such as:

- the ever-increasing hotel capacity of Andorra
- the expansion of ski resorts
- the number of cars
- the traffic collapse
- the creation of a metropolitan continuum, with a complete loss of any natural element at the bottom of the valleys
- the loss in quality of life
- the loss of the moutain identity of the country
- the high levels of contamination

The new projects only contribute to worthen the situation, and do not foresee any alternative to the present rythm of growth. It is also important to mention that we are loosing the respect of natural risks, traditionally an essential element of a mountainous zone

Therefore, ADN and P3M demand that immediate action takes place on the following issues:

1. A real planning of the country, according to its characteristics and possibilities, following a model of sustainable development.

The previously mentioned problems require, more than ever a national planning (based upon a parochial consensus) of the model of country we want to achieve, and in which we will be able to define the limits of our growth.

It is urgent that we calculate which is the carrying capacity of our small territory and ecosystems, in order to define limits of quantitative growth:

- population
- cars
- tourists
- hotels

It is the only way that will be able to define a optimum level of growth and a decent quality of life for everyone, as well as a rational use of the natural resources. Altogether, this planning should be made on the basis of sustainable development, and be translated in local Agendas 21, in the entire territory of Andorra. It should be also imply a real compromise from the political class and other social actors.
It is primordial that the planning takes into account the reality and the possibilities of our tiny mountainous country. Its characteristics make it no reasonable to imagine huge infrastructures or projects (Olympic Games, highways...) Mountain transmit and offer us quality. In return mountains demand quality in terms of development, and thus, we must keep an adequate proportion while designing projects to our small territory.

2. Legislative action needs to be taken immediately on the use of natural resources, particularly on water, air, landscape, biodiversity and rural or agricultural soil, and the new laws should guarantee the perpetuity of their conservation.

It is true indeed that legislation is insufficient at the moment, even though it exists. But most of the texts need to be updated or completely renewed. And as for the ones existing, a strong commitment of the government, central and local, for their enforcement should be taken as well.
It is also important to integrate the principles of sustainable development in other sectorial laws, such as:

- land planning
- waste treatment
- animal protection
- transportation and road building
- financing
- tourism, etc..

At this stage, it should be a priority that the different legal instruments for land planning recognize the role of some land in nature & biodiversity conservation, or for their landscape values.

3. A complete suspension for the construction of major infrastructures, in the increase of hotel places, in the non-planned urbanization and the extension of ski resorts, AS LONG AS ALL THE OTHERS DEMANDS HAVE NOT BEEN COVERED. Those sectors have been seen as the most impacting, at the present moment on the face of Andorra.

Major infrastructures building
We need a detailed analysis of how people and goods move in Andorra, upon which will be taken necessary actions to solve traffic problems. There is obviously an under-use of public transport, due to the poor quality of the service. Before designing a new road network, based on those major infrastructures, the growth projection of the country should be reviewed at a lower scale, and rather optimize the existing road system. It is more urgent to impulse and improve the public transport system than to propose huge projects such as the air metro.

Increase of hotel places
The actual forecast of increasing beds leads to an inevitable raise in the number of visitors, natural resources use, and the necessity to build more infrastructures to absorb them, not to mention the extension of ski resorts. New tourists alternatives/options must be seek to the mass tourism actually promoted by low-price offers that only respond to the demand of hotels.

Scattered urbanization
Urbanization that is taking place outside the towns is irremediably degradating some of the most valuable natural spots of Andorra, such ad the Vall d’Incles or the Cortals d’Encamp. It implies edification on the open spaces between urban areas, which might end becoming a urban continuum, a huge metropolitan area. This has almost already happened between Encamp-Les Escaldes, SantJulià– Santa Coloma, La MAssana-Ordino..

Extension of ski resorts
At the present, ski stations occupy 16% of the Andorran territory above the 2000 m level. If we add the projected extensions, occupied surface would attain 27%. Those extensions affect natural spaces of high natural and landscape. They hover rare habitats and threatened species. Ski is only a seasonal activity (at most 5 months per year) and when snow is gone, facilities, engines, parking, roads do have a strong visual impact. Climate trends will oblige to produce always more artificial show, and thus to consume more water to do so. Plus, the process of producing artificial snow is not a clean one, and the water afterwards melting will contaminate and modify the quality of high mountain rivercourses and lakes.
Ski resorts should be improved and optimized, but this country cannot assume more extensions. And it is worrying as well that Andorra pretends to export its model of development to neighbouring regions (Vall Ferrera ), that are still in a position to chose a development based on the conservation of nature.

In parallel, action should be taken to minimize (or stop) the loss of rural land derived from the growth of urban centers. In that sense, the automatic categorization of all private land as potentially urbanized soil is extremely worrying, even more if it ratified and confirmed by the local urban plans.

Finally, the river situation is also critical, for the high contamination of waters as much as for the continuing destruction of river vegetation. Currently, more than 39% of river vegetation in Andorra are seriously modified or extremely degraded. The several projects of canalization and covering of sections of our rivers, if done, will represent the end for many watercourse ecosystems.

4. The last point concerns the waste treatment plan, that the association considers should be adapted to a new model of Andorra, and not be based on the current trends, which are unsustainable

ADN and P3M also question the transparency of the entire procedure, and believe that a large public debate on the issue would have been and is still necessary to decide which will be the future of waste management in Andorra.

The existing Waste National Strategy has not been preceded by an information and public participation process. All implicated parts should be able to participate in a large and open debate, in order to elaborate a waste plan that is really adapted to the necessities of Andorra. In particular, treatment methods should promote innovation and efficient methods to minimize, re-use and recycling, in order of priority.
Equally, the draft bill of Waste Management should also be submitted to public participation process.
As long as we will not have new instruments for waste management, resulting of a process of dialogue with all the social actors and benefiting from the transparency of authorities, we require the government not to build the new waste treatment center, and to find a transitory solution until a new strategy is agreed.

The citizens of Andorra have the right and the obligation to act and participate in the management of our territory and therefore we ask for a political compromise for the sustainable development of Andorra, with clear objectives and orientation in order to stop the current trend of unsustainable growth, and the implementation of the demands of this Manifest.

Andorra, 10 february 2003

Associació per a la Defensa de la Natura (ADN)
Col·lectiu per a la Protecció del Patrimoni Muntanyenc (P3M)