Guides to the flora and fauna of natural parks

These guides enable visitors to find, identify and get to know the wonderful biodiversity of the natural areas of our country. Aside from the illustrations, these books contain brief descriptions, complemented by symbols, of the abundance, habitat and phenology of the species described. Each book has an introduction to the different environments of each protected area and includes panoramas that help highlight the most interesting species of its flora and fauna.

With 11 guides published to date in just three years and more on the way, this richly illustrated collection of pocket guides brings the flora and fauna of Catalonia within the reach of all.

I had always dreamed of having a pocket guide that would enable me to identify at a glance all the animals and plants I found in a certain place, from toadstools to mammals, trees to flowers and insects and fish to birds. The idea would be to include in a single volume all the species found in the place in question, which would save me from having to consult pages and pages of species from far-off places illustrated in the dozens of specialized guides that I would have to carry in my rucksack on every outing.

With this in mind and with my illustrations and texts and help from local naturalists, in 2008 Brau Edicions and its editor (and friend), Jenar Fèlix, began to publish the first collection of guides to the flora and fauna of the natural areas of Catalonia. These pocket guides, richly illustrated and aimed at a wide spectrum of people, contain not only the commonest and the easiest-to-observe species of a particular protected area, but also its most singular and characteristic plants and animals. The clear, easy-to-read design was created by Lluc Julià and the layout by Abdón Jordà from Brau Edicions; the maps were drawn by Albert Vila.

I illustrated and wrote the first eight guides in the series that are devoted to the following protected areas: L'Alt Pirineu, Ebro Delta, El Montseny and Cap de Creus natural parks (2008), Els Ports, Els Aiguamolls de l'Empordà and Montnegre natural parks and Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (2009). The three latest guides to be published have texts by local experts Xavier Bayer and Cisco Guasch for the Foix park (2010), Vicenç Bros for Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac Natural Park and Joan Budó and Jenar Fèlix for L’Albera, which has also been published in French (2011).

We are currently in the process of producing more of these guides for regions outside Catalonia.