The castle of Castellet, headquarters of the abertis foundation, was chosen as the venue for the  signature of the agreement twinning the Foix and Monte Marcello Magra parks, the latter in Italy. This meeting not only served to strengthen the link between the two bodies, but also represented the first step in setting up a federation of protected areas in the Mediterranean region.

The agreement was signed on behalf of the Foix natural park by Josep Mayoral, chairman of Barcelona provincial authority’s network of natural parks, and Miquel Delgado, president of the park consortium and mayor of Castellet i la Gornal, the municipality in which the abertis foundation has its headquarters; and on behalf of the Monte Marcello Magra park by Walter Baruzzo, the president of the park, Mateo Fusilli, president of Federparchi (the Italian natural park federation), and Fabio Renzi, representing the Italian environmental conservation body Legambiente.

With this agreement the two parks have set in motion a new policy of co-operation, in view of the similarities between these protected areas, with comparable environmental features, history and culture. Within the framework of co-operation established between Barcelona provincial authority’s natural parks, the Italian park federation and Legambiente, a new forum has been proposed in order to move towards setting up a federation of parks in the Mediterranean region.

The signing of the agreement represented the culmination of a two-day visit during which the Italian delegation was able to visit the Foix park, its reservoir, the Penyafort area, El Molí and the Foix documentation centre.