Spain: Doñana in Trouble (1 Viewer)

[DBK]

The Doñana national park in south west Spain has long been famous for its wildlife, birds of all sorts and also lynx.
But it has been under pressure from a number of directions for a few years and now the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has withdrawn its green status, the first park it is ever done this to.
This article is behind a paywall but what you can see should be enough to get the gist of it. Intensive agriculture and tourism seem to be the main problems. There isn't much they can do about the drought but I guess illegal water extraction might be involved.

El parque de Doñana sale de la lista verde internacional de la UICN por su mala gestión

El espacio protegido es la primera reserva natural expulsada de este ‘sello’ de calidad de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza

elpais.com

However, with nimble finger work I managed to get a screenshot of the beginning of the article, translated by Chrome, before the offer to subscribe jumps out.

 

[Peavy]

Indeed, a sad example of poor management by the Andalusian authorities (regardless of their political standing).

 

[gus-lopez]

Yes the illegal water extraction is destroying the habitat.

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[Dobby 2]

Strawberry farmers. Unfortunately, the fines incurred for digging an illegal well is far outweighed by the monetary gains. We were there earlier in the year and one of the ladies in the reserve told us that 220 wells had been dicovered and shut down. They just dig another. The lake in front of El Rosio was a puddle as were many other parts of the park where hides are situated. The town of Matalascanas is also causing a problem through illegal water extraction for the golf courses, gardens and swimming pools.

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[scotjimland]

Spanish minister hails deal to save Andalucía wetlands as a model for green transition

€1.4bn deal to protect Doñana national park will diversify local economy and stop farmers using aquifers to irrigate fruit crops

www.theguardian.com

 

[Orion]

Just found this thread and thanks for posting.

Planning to visit in March 2024 with binos and telescope.

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[Orion]

Spanish minister hails deal to save Andalucía wetlands as a model for green transition

€1.4bn deal to protect Doñana national park will diversify local economy and stop farmers using aquifers to irrigate fruit crops

www.theguardian.com

“There’s more of a future than strawberries and raspberries,” said Ribera.

She’s certainly doing her best to promote the production of word salad in that article!