LOCATION OF THE SCHOOL OF ORGANIC FARMING

After a process of research of the study area in order to arrive to the approximate location of the centers of R & D that aims to be devel-oped in the region AL-EX the project led to a layering process by which these centers were located within a radius of one kilometer regarding the intersection of high biodiversity hotspots and abandoned railroad tracks in the region.

With less than two months for the end of the course and seven centers ahead to be devel-oped, I decided to prioritize and focus on only one center.

Initially and for certain reasons which later may not have been adequate, I decided to focus on the development of a seed bank that would be located next to the border with Alentejo and which would maintain a close relationship with the TLO.However, after a crit, I concluded that maybe I should develop the center which maintained the closest relations with the rest of the pro-posed centers; this idea led the project to focus on the school of organic farming.

At the time of determining its exact location I just limited the project to be guided by the one km radius that was initially defined at large scale, which led the proposal fail in its first location, so I decided that the project needed either more data or new overlay parameters that would be added to the to the fixed initial ones and that marked my loca-tions.

NODE FOR THE CENTER

HOTSPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY

VIA DE LA PLATA

RAILROAD TRACK

CAÑADAS REALES

This center, regarding a larger scale, was located at the intersection of the abandoned railroad tracks that pass through Plasencia and the area of high biodiversity that surrounds and includes the Jerte Valley.

By researching and knowing well that area and the center's program, I knew that this area is well known for the transhumance routes and the “Via de la Plata”.

Transhumance routes were and are those for which the cattle were moved from winter pas-ture to summer pasture and vice versa. These paths, called “Cañadas reales” were created by Alfonso X and they cross all the country. Among the main ten paths, six of them end in Extremadura, and one of these six intersect the railway line and the point of biodiversity in which the school of organic farming is located.

This fact, together with the fact that continuing along the transhumance route and with less than three miles from this junction with the railroad track, it comes to one of the main points of the “Via de la Plata”, Roman road that passes through Spain, and Extremadura, north to south parallel to the Roman roads in Portugal, crossing Alentejo from north and south.

Therefore, two new parameters on a smaller scale were founded and they gave the pro-posal the exact location for the school of organic agriculture.

LOCATION FOR THE SCHOOL OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE.

The school of organic farming is located at the intersection between the previous layers and the two new ones. This intersection leads the project to the “Dehesa de los Magines”.

The “Dehesa de los Magines” is an area of influence by the Monfregüe Natural Reserve and it is considered as biosphere reserve, special area of birds protection (ZEPA), community interest area (LIC) and a star life space (no light pollution). It is also well known for being one of the first areas working with “Ternera de Extremadura”, society form in the year 1996, as well as for its ecologic farming activity.

The dehesa is located within a kilometer from the small town of Toril, at 35km within the city of Plasencia and 23km within Navalmoral, and it is also connected by means of the “cordel” (vía pecuaria or “cañada real”) with Casatejada and thanks to the abandoned railroad track it is connected with the north-east of the region.

At the very beginning, the dehesa it was owned by just one family from the city of Plasencia, but decades later, it was divided into different fields and it is now form by five different areas connected by the “cordel” and the railroad track.

Regarding the flora of the area, the “dehesa” is well known because of having considerable extensions of cork and ilex forests and also because of the protected wildlife activity from Monfragüe Natural Reserve. Also, parallel to the railroad track, an affluent stream from the Tietar River, gives water to the grassland of the surrounding lands.

It is because of the reasons of being located in a privileged environment, with easy access to the different lands thanks to the rural paths, the considerable amount of natural resources and the closed grasslands in which organic crops could be carried out into practice, that the project considers this location the appropriate one for the School of organic farming.

Railroad track to Portugal

Railroad track platform

The stream and old “secaderos de tabaco” The railroad track and old “secaderos de pimientos”