Spain's Doñana wetlands area is reported to have lost 80% of its natural water supplies, putting it at risk of being listed as ‘in danger’.
The Anadalusian reserve of sand dunes, shallow streams and lagoons is being starved of water due to marsh drainage, intensive local agriculture, and water pollution from the mining industry.
In a report, the environmental group WWF said that the site faces further damage from nearby mining, gas and dredging activities that could result in being put on Unesco’s endangered list next year.
Some 2,000 species of wild life are also at risk. In addition to some 6 million migratory birds, wild horses, flamingos, Spanish imperial eagles and the endangered Iberian lynx use the park’s 540 square kilometres.
The study found more than 1,000 illegal wells had been drilled and 3,000 hectares of illegal farms for growing the water-dependent crops which have taken over from the drought-resistant ones, robbing the park’s biodiversity which is unique in Europe.
While parts of the natural reserve permits some sustainable agriculture, a portion of it and the area immediately outside is responsible for 70% of all the strawberries grown in Spain, much of it for export, according to the WWF. This brings in €400 million per year
Doñana, just over the Portuguese border, is fed by the Guadalquivir and Guadiamar rivers, and from a large underground aquifer. River modifications have already impacted on the area and more are in the pipeline. The port of Seville wants to dredge the Guadalquivir to deepen it for cargo and cruise ships.
The country’s Supreme Court put a temporary halt to the project but a government decree revived it in January.
Industrial activity poses a further threat. The WWF pointed to the reopening of the nearby Aznalcollar mine that caused one of Spain's worst ecological disasters in 1998 when a dam burst and released toxic waste into a river, only narrowly avoiding the wetlands, and leaving 30,000 kilos of dead fish.
Unesco has already made it clear that reopening the mine would not be compatible with world heritage site status.
A “strategic gas storage site” is planned by the government for the area under Doñana and exploration and storage work have been authorised within the park’s vicinity. More pipelines in the fragile area will be required.
Spain has a deadline of 1 December to make Doñana off limits for dredging and industrial activity and report this to Unesco. Failure to do this would risk the park being placed on the organisation’s world heritage danger list, which would make it the first EU country to have a national park classified as ‘in danger’.
WWF spokeswoman Eva Hernández said that the park’s situation has become critical.
“Doñana’s biodiversity has eroded over the last 40 years and we are reaching a point of no return,” she said. With growing pressure from private and public companies, it is time to “decide whether it is more important to consume all of Doñana’s resources or to preserve its biodiversity and services for the people.”
