Artisanal salt activity contributes to sustainable development

What is it about?

We carried out a research project on the artisan salt activity in the Gulf of Cadiz, providing a novel vision of the theories of intangible cultural heritage. The main objective has been to characterise the artisan salt activity in terms of its cultural and sustainable value, as well as to contribute studies in view of the scarcity of studies that approach it from heritage perspectives. This element of heritage has suffered an irrevocable loss, and in order to contribute to its safeguarding, we provide an interdisciplinary study ranging from ethnographic work to statistical review. All this leads us to understand the importance of the artisan salt activity for the conservation of biodiversity in the marshes of the Gulf of Cadiz, the importance of its knowledge for sustainable ways of life with the environment, and the possibility of preserving it in the face of the problems of globalisation.

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Why is it important?

The artisan salt activity has been studied from disciplines such as history, archaeology and anthropology. This research is the first to approach the salt activity from the combination of qualitative methods and quantitative methods of statistics to understand its importance as an element of intangible cultural heritage, while analyzing it as a human practice that enhances biodiversity.

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