"El acequia que don Manuel mandó facer"la importancia del conocimiento histórico para la comprensión y gestión del “Sistema de Zonas Húmedas del Sur de Alicante”

Abstract

In a well-known fragment of the Libro de la Caza (Book of the Hunt) by don Juan Manuel (beginnings 14 c.) a reference is made to a canal (acequia) “ordered to be built by don Manuel”. In our present communication, we expose, on the base of an intensive archival research, field work and some local oral sources, what this canal was, its importance for the maintenance through the centuries of the Albufera de Elche (present Nature Park of the Salines of Santa Pola), and its historical transformation until our times. We propose also a reflection on the importance of historical knowledge for the understanding of the origins and functionalism of our present Southern Alicante Wetlands System, as so as on the influence of the historical consciousness of local population for a more integrated and sustainable management of these cultural ecosystems