Spanish nature saved from Big Oil

This video is called Woodchat Shrike, Coto Donana, Spain, 11 March 2011.

From The Beacon blog:

Victory in Spain! National Park Saved from Oil Development

Posted Fri, Jul 20, 2012 by Michelle Cassidy

We’re pleased to announce that the Spanish government has put an end to proposed oil industry development that would have threatened the Doñana National Park, a World Heritage Site, after campaigning by Oceana and our allies.

Plans to build an oil refinery in the Gulf of Cadiz, not far from Doñana, would have led to higher ship traffic in the area and a higher risk of oil spills or accidents during the tankers’ unloading operations. Oceana is currently working to create a Marine Protected Area in this section of the Gulf of Cadiz, which would be linked to the National Park.

Doñana National Park was established in 1993 and named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Its marshes, streams, and sand dunes are home to plants and animals found almost nowhere else in the world.

Many migratory birds spend their winters in the park lands, and endangered species like the Spanish imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx (one of the world’s most endangered cat species) call this area home. In the marshes of Doñana National Park, you can also find birds like the Avocet and the Purple Heron, both of which depend on the sensitive estuary habitats.

SEO/BirdLife (BirdLife in Spain) is working hard to make sure that the Aznalcóllar mines, closed since a holding dam burst in 1998, remain closed. Steps are being taken by the Regional Government in Seville to re-open them; these new developments could endanger the conservation actions that have been undertaken by the Spanish region of Andalucía and the Ministry of Environment to create the Green Corridor of Guadiamar in Doñana National Park: here.

Related articles

• Spain’s wetlands wonder is under threat for a second time in 16 years
• Doñana: Fifty years since WWF’s landmark conservation achievement
• Doñana’s UNESCO status in danger
• Donana under threat from gas extraction

• Jonah wouldn’t have had to put up with this when the whale swallowed him…. (cleanourcreeks.wordpress.com)
• The Vortex Claims Another Victim (conservationbiologynews.wordpress.com)
• Are Organic Falls Bridging Reduced Environments in the Deep Sea? – Results from Colonization Experiments in the Gulf of Cádiz (plosone.org)