- This topic has 18 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 2023-12-27 at 11:33 by .
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Posts
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clive
- Grazalema
This kind of news just destroys my faith… Doñana has been a protected area for decades and has received hundreds of millions of EU funding… And now the park rangers have to put out rabbits to feed the eagles? The ecosystem is that damaged??? ufff its so depressing….
Un ecosistema en declive. Las águilas imperiales de Doñana sobreviven a base de la comida que les dan los humanos. En el parque nacional no hay alimento para el emblema alado del monte mediterráneo español.
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Helen
- Seville
The truth is just plain and ugly… https://seo.org/2022/07/05/el-colapso-ecologico-de-donana-arrastra-al-aguila-imperial-hacia-una-situacion-critica/
Many people blame rabbit decline 100 percent for this but that is NOT the case. Terrible mismanagement, illegal wells, illegal construction, poisoning etc etc etc etc etc….. Doñana has been a disaster for many years with no one doing anything about it……
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
Miguel
- Cádiz
And now the director of the Doñana national park has said that soon there won’t be even any water for strawberries let alone wildlife!
Everybody blaming each other as usual! https://www.eldiario.es/andalucia/sostenibilidad/eloy-revilla-director-estacion-biologica-donana-si-no-actuamos-no-habra-donana-fresas_128_9192271.html
Carl
I just read the news that Doñana is now dry with just one small lagoon remaining that has just a few more days before that dries up too.
La sequía y las extracciones del acuífero subterráneo para usos agrícolas y turísticos han provocado que solamente una laguna de Doñana, la de Santa Olalla mantenga un rastro de agua en el Parque Nacional.
Full article: https://efeverde.com/solo-una-laguna-de-donana-la-de-santa-olalla-mantiene-algo-de-agua/
La carencia de agua en Doñana, por extracción abusiva de su acuífero, se enfrenta también a la intención del Gobierno andaluz de ampliar los cultivos de fresas.
Aunque ya en 2014 se legalizaron 9.000 hectáreas plantadas sin permiso, ahora se quiere dar oficialidad a otras 1.800 –según el cálculo de WWF-. La iniciativa motivó en febrero una dura carta de advertencia de la UE, pidiendo “respeto al Estado de Derecho”, y advirtiendo que habría sanciones económicas. EFE
Rachel
And now its dry as of the 3rd of September 2022
Rachel
Article on Linkedin if you use it…
“Esta es la tercera vez que la laguna de Santa Olalla se seca completamente desde que tenemos registros. Ocurrió también en 1983 y en 1995, en ambos casos coincidiendo también con períodos de sequía intensa”, explica Revilla. “Sabemos, por las veces que ha ocurrido con anterioridad, que no solo es la sequía la causa de que las lagunas permanentes de Doñana hayan desaparecido. La sobreexplotación del acuífero de Doñana es también responsable”. Un acuífero está sobreexplotado cuando de él se extrae más agua de la que recarga cuando llueve, algo que lleva muchos años ocurriendo en Doñana.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/la-sequ%C3%ADa-y-sobreexplotaci%C3%B3n-de-los-/
clive
- Grazalema
Uk news and the Guardian have picked up the story: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/05/santa-olalla-lake-dries-up-in-vital-spanish-wetland-blamed-on-overexploitation?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
I wonder what they blamed the drought on back in 1983 when it also dried up? Global warming were words unheard of really, Matalascañas was a tiny fishing village and surely there were less illegal wells?
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
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Helen
- Seville
El Pais in English has quite an informative article: https://english.elpais.com/spain/2022-09-06/spains-donana-national-park-dries-up-completely.html
The fauna of macrovertebrates is sustained by the lagoons, but if there are no shelters they go further or die. It is a loss of biodiversity for the whole of Europe. Everything that is strictly aquatic has died, including the eel, which is in danger of extinction, and other species of fish such as cornets and aquatic insects. Plants and amphibians may resist, but not for so long,” says Díaz from the Department of Wetland Ecology of the Doñana Biological Station, part of Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC). This summer, mammals have quenched their thirst at zacallones, small ditches dug by environmental technicians to provide artificial watering holes.
The fines are paid for by the sale of strawberries…. Great!
The Water Authority, meanwhile, continues to seal off illegal wells in the region. Since 2018, environmental agents have closed 220 wells, but when they close one, the farmers tend to open up another. It pays off: the economic benefits of the strawberry harvest exceed the amount of the fines.
And meanwhile, lawns are green and swimming pools are full!!!!
Matalascañas is supplied by five wells, which extract 2.75 cubic hectometres of water per year. Now authorities are planning to close the two closest wells to Doñana and open another two at the western end, in the direction of the city of Huelva. Have they reacted too late? “No action has been taken. In Matalascañas the grass continues to be watered and the swimming pools filled. There is no limitation on consumption,” Revilla says. Díaz clarifies: “Of course the extractions have an influence. We got [more water] because the golf course was closed. But we have to insist that the politicians give up their plans.”
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
Rachel
And so it continues…. After over 20 years the people in charge think it might be a good idea to re instate the two main water supplies for Doñana…. Its so bloody annoying….
Article in Spanish: https://www.diariodesevilla.es/andalucia/Gobierno-recupera-despues-cauce-Donana_0_1729329133.html
La vida en Doñana ha dependido principalmente del suministro de agua que le proporcionan dos cauces, el caño Guadiamar y el Brazo de la Torre. El deterioro hasta el extremo de estas vías hídricas, causado por factores de diversa índole, ha impedido el alimento básico de las marismas, motivo de honda preocupación desde hace décadas para la Comisión Europea, la Unesco y, en general, para los investigadores, ecologistas y los lugareños. La sequía imperante, en un periodo de diez años hacia acá, no ha hecho sino agravar una anemia que ya de suyo arrastraban las dos principales arterias que nutren el Parque Natural y del Parque Nacional desde antiguo, desde demasiado antiguo.
- Cádiz
Re Clives first post on this subject, now they are getting “hundreds of millions” more! Yay!
356 million to be sure… Designated to do the things that should already have been done over the last 20 years or more! Controlling urban development, stopping illegal wells and protecting the environment surely was already the job of the park authorities, no?
Así, se dedicarán 7,8 millones de euros a reforzar el cierre de pozos ilegales, al control del consumo en las concesiones y el seguimiento de cultivos en regadío mediante imágenes de satélite y la guardería fluvial. Estas actividades son indispensables para recuperar el control de los recursos hídricos en la zona y están alineadas con las políticas que ha implementado el MITECO en el entorno y que han dado lugar al cierre de 210 pozos ilegales.
Para mejorar la gestión del acuífero se elaborarán planes de actuación específicos para cada una de las masas de agua subterránea declaradas en riesgo. Además, se destinan 156,2 millones de euros a otras iniciativas orientadas a disminuir las extracciones de dichas aguas.
Rachel
Some more depressing news about Doñana
In Spain website: https://inspain.news/situation-in-southern-spanish-donana-nature-park-is-dramatic-according-to-seo-birdlife/
The Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO) Birdlife has warned that bird reproduction in Doñana National Park is experiencing an ‘unprecedented decline‘, and urged the authorities and the production sectors of this wetland to act ‘jointly, comprehensively and urgently‘.
SEO BirdLife warns of the risk of ‘collapse’ and the ‘dramatic situation’ of Doñana due to poor management. Moreover, human activity has a negative impact on Doñana’s birds, which play a key role in natural recovery. Some of the causes include pollution, habitat change and climate change with associated periods of long droughts. Furthermore, overexploitation of resources and water pollution are the main causes of these large lagoons gradually drying up.
clive
- Grazalema
Sign to say NO to the bill that could make Doñana disappear.
The future of Doñana is increasingly at risk: despite the drying up of the lagoons and marshes, the Andalusian PP (People’s Party) intends to move forward with the project to grant amnesty to illegal irrigation in the vicinity of the national park.
The proposal, which the Andalusian government is trying to pass urgently, seeks to benefit a residual group of offenders who have been illegally exploiting water for years and do not represent the Andalusian agricultural sector at all.
This measure could push the natural space to extinction. The heart of Doñana already meets the conditions to be declared at risk of disappearance.
Sign to demand an end to the extinction of Doñana.
Petition to sign is here: https://seoactua.org/peticion/donana/
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
clive
- Grazalema
Here is a full translation of the SEO birdlife petition: https://wildsideholidays.co.uk/save-donana-from-legalised-illegal-water-extraction/
Also a link to sign
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
Helen
- Seville
There is quite a good article explaining the situation in Doñana here: https://inspain.news/andalucia-signs-death-warrant-for-donana-spains-most-important-wetland/
‘Origin of Doñana strawberries will be questioned’
“Distribution chains across Europe will question the origin of the Doñana strawberries because they will not know how to differentiate between legal and illegal,” Ribera added in an interview with La Sexta. The minister also warned that the Commission could even block Spain’s access to European funds.
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
- Cádiz
And the saga continues with the Spanish government stating they will not allow the Junta de Andalucía to pass the new law legalising the illegal wells etc… https://www.spainenglish.com/2023/04/17/spanish-government-vows-block-farming-threatened-wetlands/
The proposal by the regional government of Andalusia to rezone lands near the huge Doñana National Park comes amid a prolonged drought and it has drawn the ire of the European Commission and UNESCO.
The area is home to many rare species such as the Iberian lynx and on the route of millions of migratory birds, including flamingos, spoonbills and ibis.
‘Doñana will not be touched, Doñana is the heritage of Andalusians, of all Spaniards,’ Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said at a political rally overt the weekend.
Andalusia’s parliament voted last Wednesday to consider the plan proposed by the region’s right-wing People’s Party (PP) government.
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