Recommendations of the Montreux Conference

Recommendation 4.9.1 on Doņana

4th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties
Montreux, Switzerland
27 June-4 July 1990

Recommendation 4.9.1: Doņana National Park, Spain

RECOGNISING that Doņana is one of the most important wetlands in Europe and is included in the List of Wetlands of International Importance;

AWARE that the Spanish authorities have taken many positive measures for the protection of Doņana, including hydrological restoration, the enlargement of the protected area and the substantial reduction of the irrigated area;

NOTING that, in spite of these positive measures, there is still a risk of change in the ecological character of Doņana National Park Ramsar site because of water extraction for agriculture and tourist development, among other problems;

CONSCIOUS of the need for urgent supplementary measures to ensure the conservation of Doņana;

THE CONFERENCE OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES

RECOMMENDS that the Spanish Government and regional authorities:

(a) ensure that the basin-wide water resources Master Plan being prepared by the Guadalquivir Basin Authority (CHG) will examine the Almonte-Marismas aquifer, the irrigation scheme, as well as tourist and urban demands for water, in order to meet the Doņana National Park's water requirements and to maintain its ecological character;

(b) ensure that the existing formal consultative bodies for the National Park and Guadalquivir Basin pay special attention to the views of the scientific community and of non-governmental organizations concerned with environmental protection;

(c) ensure better and stricter control of the extraction of water and the use of chemical products for agricultural purposes; and

(d) increase conservation measures in the area surrounding Doņana sufficiently to ensure that the ecological character of Doņana is not damaged; enlarge the protected area to cover all the important zones around Doņana in order to protect the National Park from the threat represented by tourist development, particularly the proposed "Costa Doņana " development scheme.

For further information on the Ramsar Convention or the Montreux Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, please contact the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ). Posted 22 February 1997, updated 4 March 2000, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.