On the brink of disaster: the Doñana World Heritage Site in Spain is almost destroyed

One of the most important nature reserves in Europe, the Doñana wetland in southern Spain, is in danger of extinction.

The process of drying out of the reserve is rapidly continuing. Drought is not the only problem. The cultivation of strawberries worsen the situation, writes Travelbook.

It is emphasized that here in Andalusia there is an environmental disaster, to which consumers of strawberries in Germany also contribute. High water consumption in the area where the "red gold" i.e. strawberries are grown contributes to the drying up of the natural paradise.

A catastrophic water shortage in Spain

In turn, environmental experts say that the region simply does not have enough water for so many strawberry fields, neither groundwater nor surface water. In addition, there is no way to provide surface water to replace the approximately 1,000 illegally drilled deep wells. In some places, the water table has dropped to five to six meters. In particular, due to excessive consumption in agriculture.

The enormous consumption of water to grow strawberries, blueberries and raspberries around the natural paradise has worsened the situation catastrophically. 80 percent of the fruit is exported, including to Germany.

At the same time, the drought threatens the habitat of many rare animals, such as the Iberian lynx, the royal eagle, flamingos, storks, gray herons, brown glossy ibis or night herons, and endangered aquatic creatures.

What is the cause of the water collapse

It is noted that in recent years, farmers have been illegally drilling wells from which water has been pumped to about 1,600 hectares of crop land, which is just as illegal. According to the water department, hundreds of such wells have already been sealed, but farmers simply drill new ones.

In turn, the farmers themselves have their own truth. A representative of local farmers says that the central government is to blame for the trouble, having failed to build the promised infrastructure to channel surface water from other regions to the strawberry plantations.

Experts speak of sad scenarios, because climate change will somehow stop the cultivation of strawberries and other fruits in this region. Because of rising temperatures, fruit cultivation will migrate farther north, for example, to France. And because of the drop in the water table, seawater will infiltrate.