Strawberry Farms Threaten Spanish Wetlands
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Loading... - Heather Craven
- 02 Jun 2022
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Standing in the middle of a stretch of land surrounded by dunes and pine forest, Juan Romero examines the cracked ground then stares at the dusty horizon.
"It's dry... really dry," the retired teacher said at the huge Donana National Park in southern Spain, home to one of Europe's largest wetlands, which is threatened by intensive farming.
"At this time of the year this should be covered with water and full of flamingos," added Romero, a member of Save Donana, a group that has been fighting for years to protect the park.
Water supplies to the park have declined dramatically due to climate change and the over-extraction of water by neighboring strawberry farms, often through illegal wells, scientists say.
The situation could soon get worse as the regional government of Andalusia, where Donana is located, has proposed expanding irrigation rights for strawberry farmers near the park.
It's a battle pitting environmentalists against politicians and farmers, and the proposal to widen irrigation rights has drawn backlash from the EU, the UN and major European grocery store chains.
The proposal would regularize nearly 1,900 hectares (4,700 acres) of berry farmland currently irrigated by illegal wells, said Juanjo Carmona of the local branch of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).
"For Donana it would be a disaster," he added.
The park, whose diverse ecosystem of lagoons, marshes, forests and dunes stretch across 100,000 hectares, is on the migratory route of millions of birds each year and is home to many rare species such as the Iberian lynx.
"Donana is a paradise for migrating birds. But this ecosystem is threatened," said Romero.
The driving force behind the plan to extend irrigation rights is the conservative Popular Party (PP), which governs the southern region of Andalusia with the support of far-right party Vox.
The plan's fate will be decided after a snap poll in Andalusia on June 19 but with both parties riding high in the polls the controversial proposal looks set to go head. Read More…
