Minister of Environmental Transition Teresa Ribera stated that the plan is aimed at encouraging farmers to cease growing crops that rely heavily on water.
Spanish authorities signed an agreement on Monday to invest 1.4 billion euros in areas around Doñana National Park to prevent the area from drying up.
This is an agreement with which we put an end to pressure on a natural treasure the likes of which there are few in the world.
Juan Moreno, president of the Andalusia region, announced that farmers would receive financial incentives to stop cultivating land and reforest 14 towns close to Doñana in southern Spain. He added that farmers wishing to continue growing crops would receive less money but should switch to organic dry-crop farming.
Under the agreement, Andalusia will cancel previously announced plans to expand irrigation near Doñana – a decision that UNESCO, the central government and environmentalists have criticised for increasing pressure on aquifers that have been overexploited in recent years, damaging one of Europe’s largest wetlands.
Doñana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and biosphere reserve, is a wintering ground for half a million waterfowl and a stopover for millions more birds migrating from Africa to northern Europe.
Local ecologists have long warned that its marsh and lagoon ecosystem is under severe stress from agriculture and tourism. In addition, climate change and prolonged drought, as well as record high temperatures, have exacerbated the situation.
Andalusia recently announced a plan to allow Doñana Park to expand its territory by some 7,500 hectares by purchasing the land from a private owner for 70 million euros. Doñana currently covers an area of 74,000 hectares at the estuary of the Guadalquivir River flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.
