Farming bill threatens Spain ’s most important wetland, scientists say

A plan to expand irrigated farming around one of Europe’s most important wetlands has alarmed conservation scientists and European officials. They fear the proposal, advanced earlier this month by conservative legislators in Spain’s autonomous region of Andalusia, will undermine efforts to preserve species-rich marshes in Doñana National Park that are already threatened by drought and extensive water withdrawals. “This decision goes exactly in the opposite direction to what is needed,” says biologist Eloy Revilla, director of the Doñana Biological Station, a research institution. Water use in the region is already “unsustainable,” some 1000 scientists and 25 scientific organizations warned in a public declaration issued last year. Spain could face financial penalties if Andalusia finalizes the move, European Union officials said this week. Featuring a unique combination of sand dunes, forests, and marshes, the 54,000-hectare Doñana park in southern Spain is a hot spot for a half-million migratory birds and a haven for endangered species, including the Iberian lynx and the Spanish imperial eagle. It is a United Nations World Heritage Site and is on the Ramsar list of the world’s most important wetlands. But this haven is drying up because of groundwater extraction for tourist facilities as well as nearby farms that grow water-hungry strawberries and other berry crops. A series of dry years since 2010 has also red...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news