Our Solutions to the environmental problems faced in Doñana
Through One Europe More Nature, WWF is working to restore the habitat of the endangered Iberian lynx
© WWF/Jesús Cobo
© WWF/Jesús Cobo
WWF Spain is pulling together all the different stakeholders in order to highlight the problem and take steps towards a more sustainable pattern of land and water management. The aim is to solve the water problems by encouraging the farmers to use the best available irrigation technologies, and solve the spatial problem by offering alternative plots of land to those currently farming in the lynx migration corridors.
The farmers are interested in the project, but will only change if they get some stimuli from the market, which is where supermarkets come in. Currently most of the strawberries grown around Doñana are sold to large, international supermarket chains. As consumers become ever more aware of the environmental impacts of farming and food production, supermarkets are keen to market themselves as environmentally friendly companies. The supermarkets’ purchasing policies dictate how the food we buy is produced, and WWF is working to convince them to adapt these policies to improve the environment.
The deal between strawberry farmers and supermarkets won’t be good just for the connections between Doñana and the natural habitats further inland. It will be good for the whole of Doñana, in that an estimated 4 million cubic metres of water could be saved annually, a huge contribution towards ensuring the healthy functioning of these unique wetlands.
New Rice Fields
Although artificial in origin, rice paddies in Doñana have become an important habitat for waterfowl. The current situation could be very much improved if the 35.000 hectares of rice paddies were reduced to some extent, thus reducing their water consumption and allowing for a more diverse landscape with a mosaic of uses which would be much more beneficial for biodiversity. Rice paddies could be alternated with natural grazing lands, extensive aquaculture pools or mixed rice/crab production paddies. The environmental impact of the remaining rice paddies could be reduced significantly if the farmers use more efficient irrigation systems and, eventually, switch over to organic farming.
Water Banks
Water Banks are a system of allocating, buying and selling rights to water usage, and they could have a significant benefit for nature in Doñana. They already exist in other parts of the world – notably North America and Australia – and Spanish legislation also makes provision for such arrangements. The Guadalquivir River Basin, which constitutes almost 25% of Spain, would be a good place to put this into practice, as long as the ‘rules of the game’ were clearly established and based on the Water Framework Directive.
The creation of a system of ‘water banks’ will encourage farmers to reduce the amount of land they have under rice cultivation, as they can sell the rights to the water they save or do not consume. If the water saved is then used partially or entirely for environmental purposes, nature will be the winner.
