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Green Belt of Vitoria-Gasteiz

The Green Belt of Vitoria-Gasteiz is the result of an ambitious plan of restoration and reclamation on the outskirts of the city that basically seeks to recover the ecological and social value of this space through the creation of a nature tour around the city articulated by various enclaves of high ecological value and landscape.

History
The idea of the Green Belt comes in the early 90's of XX century in order to provide a comprehensive solution to the problems of the urban periphery of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the general state of disrepair that the area presented.

When the project began, on the outskirts of the city coexisted with high ecological value areas such as forests or Zabalgana, Armentia that, although affected by problems of erosion, fire ... had managed to survive the urban and industrial expansion of the city, with gravel pits, dumps and other degraded sites that threatened the fragile survival of relict existing natural enclaves. The area offered a precarious and insecure to stay and ride, having become a physical and social barrier between the urban and rural adjacent To address existing problems and convert and / or enhance the value, if any, the suburbs, and residual clearly undervalued, Environmental Studies Center of the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz decided to undertake a large-scale project that encompasses all the periphery of the city and provide a solution to both areas operated as natural enclaves.

It was basically to create a network of suburban green spaces, an idea also found support and rationale within the management framework established by the General Urban Plan of 1986 that it proposed extending the system of urban green areas to areas peripherals.

Objetives

 * Promote the conservation of natural sites and ecological restoration peri other recoverable peripheral areas, creating a natural continuum around the city.
 * Integrate suburban parks in the urban fabric, while connecting with the natural environment, thus improving the accessibility and environmental security among urban green areas and natural areas of the municipality.
 * Put up the suburbs to promote the public use them, helping to meet the public demand for more outdoor recreation while lessening the pressure on other fragile natural areas.
 * Take advantage of the recovery and conditioning of new spaces to promote awareness and environmental education with the last attempt to involve citizens in conservation.

Parks
 Alegria 

Situated between the river Zadorra and wetlands of Salburua, the river Alegría and its banks represent today an important ecological corridor between these two valuable ecosystems, allowing the movement of such representative species as the European mink. It is a space for leisure activities, which connects the periurban Salburua park with the future fluvial park of the river Zadorra, in the Gamarra area.

 Armentia 

This is a large natural forest oak, located between the city and the Mountains of Vitoria, the main mountain range and one of the most valuable natural areas in the municipality of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Precisely its location makes the Forest of Armentia a real biological corridor between the forest areas, green areas and peri-urban ecosystem, and in this paper lies the main value Armentia Park.

 Errekaleor 

The future park is bounded on the south Olarizu Park and north to wetlands Salburua, being included within the new residential expansion Salburua. Its location makes this place an important connecting element between the Green Belt parks located south and east of the city. The river Errekaleor ensure ecological connectivity while the Cerro de Las Refrigerators, noteworthy from the standpoint of landscape, will be included in the Green Belt as a promenade a must for great views.

 Olarizu 

The fields open stands of Olarizu, an iconic mountain and the many trails that run through there and connects the city with the nearby towns, make this park a popular spot that is ideal for walking or just stay in the many corners enabled ello.A Unlike the other parks in the Green Belt, Olarizu Park has a "less natural" and closer to the typically urban park concept, as it is with this character as originally conceived. Created in 1984 to the mid-90 becomes part of the Green Belt. Since then, his conditioning has been directed mainly to public use and to accept training and environmental education.

 Salburua 

Is a wetland formed by several lakes (Arcaute and Betoño are the main ones), along with spaces and a small oak empradizados. Dried centuries ago to transform the area into farmland, the restoration work started in 1994 have reversed this situation and now Salburua is one of the most valuable inland wetlands of the Basque Country and Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.