Agro-Food Supply Chains in Peri-Urban Agricultural Areas: Do They Contribute to Preserve Local Biodiversity? The Case of Baix Llobregat Agrarian Park.

Peri-urban regions, especially in the Mediterranean, face challenges like farmland loss due

to urban pressure. This study emphasizes retail stores as strategic focal points for evaluating

societal, economic, and production systems. It hypothesizes that analyzing retail stores in

agricultural areas provides insights into traded and cultivated agrobiodiversity. Using the Baix

Llobregat Agrarian Park (Catalonia, NE Iberian Peninsula) as a case study, this research examines

different food retailers from short and conventional food supply chains. Results indicate variations

in plant diversity, origin, and seasonality among different retail stores. Farmers’ markets exhibit

higher intraspecific diversity, contributing to local agrobiodiversity conservation. This study

observes temporal changes in farmers’ markets, highlighting shifts influenced by socioeconomic

factors and climate change perceptions. Finally, this research underscores certain strategies to

promote sustainable peri-urban local food systems and preserve agrobiodiversity, offering valuable

insights into food supply chain dynamics in peri-urban agricultural regions.