The federal government of Spain’s southern Andalusia area plans to develop a prized nationwide park that’s house to one in every of Europe’s largest wetlands that’s hazard of drying up
ByJOSEPH WILSON Related Press
September 12, 2023, 10:13 AM
FILE – The bones of a {dead} horse lie in a dry wetland in Donana pure park, southwest Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. The federal government of Spain’s southern Andalusia area plans to develop a prized nationwide park that’s house to one in every of Europe’s largest wetlands that’s hazard of drying up. (AP Photograph/Bernat Armangue, File)
The Related Press
BARCELONA, Spain — The federal government of Spain’s southern Andalusia area plans to develop a prized nationwide park that’s house to one in every of Europe’s largest wetlands however is in peril of drying up.
Andalusia’s regional president Juan Moreno introduced his administration’s plan to permit the Doñana park to annex some 7,500 hectares (18,500 acres) that it plans to buy from a personal proprietor for 70 million euros ($75 million).
Doñana at present covers 74,000 hectares (182,000 acres) on an estuary the place the Guadalquivir River meets the Atlantic Ocean on Spain’s southern coast. A UNESCO World Heritage Website and Biosphere Reserve, Doñana is a wintering web site for half 1,000,000 waterfowl and a stopover spot for thousands and thousands extra birds that migrate from Africa to northern Europe.
Ecologists working in and close to the park have alerted that its ecosystem made up of marshes and lagoons is in danger because of the pressure on its underlying aquifer brought on by agriculture and tourism. That has been made worse by local weather change and an extended drought, together with record-high temperatures.
Nevertheless, Andalusia’s regional authorities additionally has plans within the works since final 12 months to increase irrigation rights for farmers close to the park, a transfer that UNESCO, Spain’s central authorities and ecologists have criticized for placing extra stress on the aquifer.
Spain’s Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera applauded the deliberate growth of the park, however she mentioned that including extra land wouldn’t remedy the issue of water shortage within the space. She additionally insisted that Andalusia drop its plans to develop irrigation close to Doñana.
“(The growth) is a transfer in the suitable path and can favor the park’s biodiversity,” Ribera mentioned Tuesday. “(However) it is going to do nothing to cut back the stress on the aquifer and the water obtainable for the park.”
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