The drought in recent years is a real scourge for Turkey. Wetlands, considered one of the most important ecosystems to exist on the planet, because of the role they play in numerous environmental processes. Along with the biodiversity they accumulate, wetlands are blue carbon sinks, meaning they are particularly effective CO2 collectors that must be protected at all costs.
It is precisely in this situation of rain deficiency that the protection and restoration of wetlands on the Peninsula is the most urgent action. And while his situation is fragile, there are public-private humanitarian initiatives that come to his aid. This situation Global Nature Foundation (FGN)is a non-profit organization that promotes the restoration of natural areas and sustainable agriculture. For many years, more than thirty years, FGN is doing a tremendous amount of work in favor of Spanish wetlands. with concrete actions that result in improvement.
There are two situations where results start to matter. These are El Hito lagoon in Cuenca province and Mar de Campos in Palencia. Both in one case and in the other, the economic and human resources employed are showing visible and promising results.
They buy 361 hectares of El Hito in Cuenca
This summer, the foundation acquired ownership of a significant area of the El Hito lagoon, taking 361.6 hectares of this natural area, representing two-thirds. But the goal is to buy a total of 500 hectares.
El Hito is a lagoon that is part of the Natura 2000 Network and is an outstanding biodiversity oasis. It is one of the most emblematic salt steppes of Castilla-La Mancha, with valuable endemic plants and highly threatened formations such as albardinals and meadows. limoniumIt has high ecological value. The formations of cranes and ducks standing in this lagoon attest to this lagoon’s concern for the environment.
Currently the Foundation Demolition work has already begun on some of the warehouses built on the northern shore of El Hito. They were built on a flood zone and now the goal is to remove these buildings to expand the flood area that these buildings have blocked.
Not only will the floodplain increase, but active restoration will take place through planting threatened native species. “In just a few years we will be able to rethink the original landscape of the lagoon, It is governed by meadows and salty steppes of high ecological value”, says Amanda del Río, Deputy Director of the Foundation.
The restoration of this environment also opens up new opportunities for the development of a region with great tourist potential for bird watching and the production of ecological products.
The initiative was developed under the umbrella of the European Union’s LIFE programme.
Mar de Campos in Palencia rises from the ashes
But even more striking is the challenge that takes place in another wetland quite far from here, particularly in the province of Palencia. There, in the La Nava or Mar de Campos wetlands, in the towns of Fuentes, Pedraza and Boada, there was a large wetland many years ago. reached 5,000 hectares especially in rainy winters. It was one of the largest wetlands in Spain.. By the 1960s, however, the land had dried up and the vigorous life there was dying out until it nearly disappeared.
In 1992, a rescue project was undertaken for the time being, thanks to the momentum of the Foundation, the Junta de Castilla-León, the municipal councils, the private sector and the EU. already managed to restore 580 hectares of the wetland in question. Thirty years of work are paying off, and the increasing flooding of the land draws more than 10,000 waterfowl from all over Europe on their migration routes to Africa each year.
Observant tourists and nature lovers also come with the birds. more and more people are encouraged to visit these Palencia towns. The visitor center, set up in an old mansion in Boada de Campos, gives us an understanding of how this ecosystem works and the main species that can be observed in it. “The truth is that the lagoon managed to put us on the map,” says Luis Carlos Castañeda, mayor of Boada.
“Since the early 90s Efforts have been made to restore the water cycleRestoring natural floods via streams or artificially supplementing the flooding of the same with water from the Canal de Castilla through agreements with the Duero Hydrographic Confederation,” Eduardo de Miguel, director of the Global Nature Foundation, told Diario Palentino.
As noted by technician Carlos Zumalacárregui of the same establishment, this was the first wetland to begin to recover in Spain. and so far one-fifth of its original surface has been restored. “We went from seeing them as something derogatory by the name of the pond, to seeing it as good for people like lagoons,” he says.