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New policies on the patrimonialization of nature reorganize the space by introducing new concepts, practices, managers and recipients. The imposition of a neoliberal conservation model generates tensions and resistance in local communities. This process involves appropriations, real and discursive, and reinventions about identity and territory. In this paper, we present the tension derived from the declaration of a Natural Space in a small town located at the region of Valencia Camp de Turia (Spain). Briefly, the town has gone from an economy based on a traditional model of exploitation of forest and agricultural resources, to a process of patrimonializing the natural environment (The Sierra Calderona Nature Park, 2002) that has reshaped the territory. From our point of view, the law on natural wildernesses clearly tends towards reductionism. The regulation defines new practices, with prescriptions and prohibitions, and implements a management model where the participation of affected population is more symbolic than real. In this sense, we want to analyze how new conservationist policies, that are based on the governing principles of the modern constitution, imply a hierarchic practice in which scientific-technical knowledge legitimately displaces the local knowledge. This process involves physical, geographical or administrative changes as a means of transformation of the usage and perception of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]