El regadío histórico de la Huerta de València (España) como Sistema Importante del Patrimonio Agrícola Mundial (SIPAM)

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) defined by FAO are sustainable and active territorial systems with landscapes of great value, rich in agrobiodiversity and the result of dialogue and mutual adaptation between people and their environment. They represent dynamic sites defined not only by geographic conditions, but also by agrarian history, tradition, and culture. The article, in the first place, reviews the concept and characteristics of a GIAHS territory and its extension at the international level. Secondly, it presents the results of the participatory process of formulation of a GIAHS candidature for the case of the historical irrigation of the Huerta de Valencia (Valencian Community, Spain), with the application of the criteria established for its recognition as GIAHS at the end of 2019 and its corresponding action plan. It is a historical region that forms a landscape of fields watered by a system of channels of medieval origin and encompasses a set of peri-urban agricultural areas –among them, Mediterranean orchards, rice crops and artisanal fishing in Albufera. The traditional management of water for irrigation that allows stabilizing the supply and demand of the resource is an exemplary feature for the planet, while allowing the GIAHS de l’Horta to adapt to the new trends of development for sustainable use. As a resilient system, it is not exempt from the problems and challenges that affect the rest of the agri-food systems, so this action plan must not only be compatible with the territorial planning and rural development plans, but must also converge with territorial policies. of this peri-urban environment, as well as with the urban food strategies outlined by the metropolitan municipalities and the involvement of the different actors –universities, foundations, the agrarian community and other agents of civil society–.