Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Preserving Doñana Park requires sound science, wise governance, and expert engineering

Nature Water volume 2, page 804 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

In June 2023, Nature Water published a Correspondence titled “How Europe’s most iconic wetland could be finished off by a strawberry farming bill”1. This publication appeared during a time of significant socio-political controversy regarding Doñana, sparked by a proposal from the Andalusian regional parliament to amend land-use regulations for land outside the park. This political tension was further heightened by the simultaneous municipal and national elections held in 2023.

Doñana Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in southern Spain, is one of Europe’s most crucial wetlands and an important habitat for numerous species. The Doñana Natural Space (DNS) spans 108,087 hectares, encompassing both the ‘National’ and the ‘Natural’ Park. Its biodiversity relies heavily on water and faces significant challenges from both natural and human factors. Identifying degradation causes, exploring alternative actions, designing effective measures, and their implementation with continuous evaluation are all crucial.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Santamaría, L. & Martin-Ortega, J. Nat. Water 1, 564–565 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. European Court of Justice. Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 24 June 2021 –European Commission v Kingdom of Spain (Case C-559/19) (2021).

  3. ICTS-Reserva Biológica de Doñana. ESPN Programa de Seguimiento de Procesos y Recursos Naturales en el Espacio Natural de Doñana: Memoria 2022 (CSIC, 2022).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. WEARE Research Group- ETSIAM, Universidad de Cordoba, Córdoba, Spain

    Julio Berbel

  2. WEARE Research Group-Department of Structural Mechanics and Hydraulic Engineering, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Fernando Delgado-Ramos

Authors
  1. Julio Berbel
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Fernando Delgado-Ramos
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julio Berbel.

Ethics declarations

Competing interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Berbel, J., Delgado-Ramos, F. Preserving Doñana Park requires sound science, wise governance, and expert engineering. Nat Water 2, 804 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00309-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00309-3

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene