Invisible Landscapes, Invisible People: Juniper Picking at the End of the Line

Abstract

This article documents the activities of two of the last juniper berry pickers of the Catalan Pyrenees. We describe how their work has been affected by rural depopulation, hyperregulation, and climate change. Junipers mostly grow in open pastures that are being colonized by bushes and trees. Their berries are sold to one of the main Catalan gin-making companies. Juniper berry pickers, thus, conduct their work in transitional areas: pastures in the process of becoming forests. Working in areas perceived as “lost,” in transition, or worthless scrubland by most rural and urban populations has affected how the pickers are perceived. Indeed, these forms of foraging go largely unseen by most users of the mountains and, despite the fact that they gather these cones for large commercial companies, they seem to operate at the margins of mainstream perceptibility.