Conservation in Spain

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In comparison to other European countries, nature conservation in Spain was institutionalized early on. A national park law was passed in Spain as early as 1916 and the first two national parks were established in 1918 . Due to the politically unstable conditions in the Second Republic and the neglect of nature conservation during the Franco dictatorship , very few protected areas were created afterwards. In the early 1970s there were only two dozen protected areas. In the 1980s, responsibility for the establishment and management of nature reserves largely went to the autonomous communitiesand the provinces across. On the one hand, this led to an almost explosive increase in the number of protected areas. On the other hand, the emergence of numerous regional types of protected areas has hindered an overview and supra-regional cooperation to this day.

history

National Park Act

Juan Vilanova y Piera

The geologist and explorer Juan Vilanova y Piera presented on May 6, 1874 in a lecture to the Sociedad Española de Historia Natural the Yellowstone National Park established two years earlier , the world's first national park. From this point on, the establishment of comparable protected areas was repeatedly discussed in Spain. Conservative Senator Pedro José Pidal y Bernaldo de Quirós played a key role in the creation of a national park law and the establishment of the first national parks . The Ley de Oración de Parques Nacionales of December 7, 1916 is considered the beginning of nature conservation in Spain. It consisted of only three articles, the status of a national park was intended for "exceptionally picturesque, wooded or rural places and landscapes". National parks should be set up by the Ministerio de Fomento (responsible for infrastructure and transport) in agreement with the respective landowners, which turned out to be problematic in practice. A royal decree of February 24, 1917 designed the law: a Central Council for National Parks ( Junta Central de Parques Nacionales ) was established. At the same time, it introduced another type of protected area, the Sitios Nacionales , intended for areas with special natural conditions, but also for places with special historical, legendary or religious significance and for remarkable trees. In the decree, the forest authorities were instructed to propose suitable areas as national parks within two months. In the end, they submitted 76 proposals.

Designation of the first protected areas

Central part of the Ordesa Valley

The first national parks in Spain were Montaña de Covadonga (now Picos de Europa National Park ) and Valle de Ordesa (now Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park ). After that, the designation of protected areas came to a standstill for eight years, with the exception of the Sitio Nacional de San Juan de la Peña established in 1920 . Reasons were the unresolved land ownership issue, lack of funding, lack of cooperation from local authorities and the hesitant development of the parks for visitors. Eduardo Hernández-Pacheco , geologist and holder of the chair of natural sciences at the Universidad Central, was also represented in the Central Council for National Parks . He was finally able to enforce the establishment of smaller protected areas with a lower protection status, which were better suited to Spanish conditions. In July 1927, a royal decree reorganized the types of protected areas. A Sitio Natural de Interés Nacional replaced the previous Sitio Nacional , a Monumento Natural de Interés Nacional was newly planned, the national parks were retained.

Another royal decree of July 20, 1929 centralized the nature conservation administration and took some of its responsibilities from the Central Council for National Parks, MPs and senators were no longer represented in this council. Hernández-Pacheco received the newly created office of Delegado-Inspector de Sitios y Monumentos Naturales de Interés Nacional . In the period that followed, Sitios Naturales in particular were set up, such as Monte Dehesa del Moncayo (1927), Ciudad Encantada (1929), Torcal de Antequera (1929) and Picacho de la Virgen de la Sierra (1929). The establishment of four protected areas in the Sierra de Guadarrama near Madrid in 1930 is attributed to the personal influence of Hernández-Pacheco . These were the Sitios Naturales Pedriza de Manzanares , Pinar de la Acebada , peaks, cirques and lakes on the Peñalara , and the Monumento Natural de Interés Nacional Peña del Arcipreste de Hita . In 1931 the Sitios Naturales Sierra Espuña as the largest protected area of ​​its kind and Monte del Valle were added in the province of Murcia .

Second republic

In the time of the Second Republic , the importance of nature conservation was upgraded in programmatic terms. Article 45 of the Republican Constitution of December 1931 declared the protection of nature against damage or destruction by humans a state task. A national park authority ( Comisaría de Parques Nacionales ), which was subordinate to the Dirección General de Montes , took over part of the tasks of the National Park Council. In the future, new national parks should be established by law, while a ministerial decree was sufficient for Sitios Naturales . For the first time there was the possibility of a compulsory expropriation of property. Usage plans were to be drawn up for the national parks, guided tours were set up for visitors, and hunting in the protected areas was finally banned. The Sitio Natural and Monumento Natural , which until then were often only regarded as “honorary titles”, were clearly defined: A Sitio Natural , apart from its smaller size, corresponded to a national park and had to meet similar criteria. A Monumento Nacional , on the other hand, was a (landscape) element or a special feature of extraordinary beauty or rarity.

Waterfalls in what is now the Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park

The application of these new regulations was made difficult by the political instability of the Second Republic. In addition, the two most important personalities in Spanish nature conservation, Pidal and Hernández-Pacheco, had meanwhile fallen out. This explains why only five new protected areas were designated during the time of the republic, all of them as Sitio Natural : 1933 Cumbre del Curotiña , Cabo Villano , Cabo de Vares , Lagunas de Ruidera and 1935 Monte Alhoya . During the following Spanish Civil War , development came to a complete standstill.

Extensive standstill: 1940 to 1970

Lake Sanabria

The years under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco are sometimes referred to as the "dark period" for nature conservation in Spain. The National Park Authority was dissolved by a law of June 4, 1940, and its tasks were taken over by a "Supreme Council for Fisheries, Hunting and National Parks" ( Consejo Superior de Pesca, Caza y Parques Nacionales ), which had more advisory tasks. This council was reorganized in 1944 and 1953, the importance of nature conservation in the council steadily declined. Nevertheless, several national parks were designated during this time: Teide and Caldera de Taburiente (1954) and Aigües Tortes y Lago de San Mauricio (1955). In addition, there was only a Sitio Natural , the Lago de Sanabria protected area established in 1946 .

A Ley de Montes of June 8, 1957 replaced the National Park Act of 1916. The national parks were dealt with there in Articles 78 and 79, with Article 78 corresponding in wording to the old National Park Act. The implementing regulations for the Ley de Montes followed as an ordinance ( Reglamento ) on February 22, 1962. New national parks should no longer be established by law, but by decree on the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture, the possibility of expropriating property was retained. The forest administration was responsible for the management of the nature reserves.

Doñana National Park

In the following years, the Doñana National Park was only re-designated in 1969 , but not without international pressure and international financial aid. With an initial 39,225 hectares , Doñana National Park was the largest protected area in Spain at the time.

In 1970 there were six national parks, 16 Sitios Naturales and one Monumento Nacional de Interés Nacional in Spain . Together they were 103,007 hectares and thus corresponded to 0.2% of the area of ​​Spain. At that time, around 4% of the territory in France, 9% in England and as much as 14% in the Federal Republic of Germany were protected in some way.

Establishment of the ICONA

In the 1960s, Spain experienced an economic boom, with more and more people moving to the cities. The Spanish considered environmental and nature protection increasingly important. The few nature reserves recorded high numbers of visitors, to which the increasing motorization also contributed.

Timanfaya National Park

Against this background, the establishment of the National Institute for Nature Conservation ICONA ( Instituto Nacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza ) acted through a decree law of October 28, 1971 as a revitalization of the Spanish nature conservation. ICONA was subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture and took over the tasks of the previous Dirección General de Montes, Caza y Pesca Fluvial . In addition to managing state forests, fighting forest fires and monitoring the purity of inland waters, this also included landscape and nature conservation and the management of protected areas. The regulations of the Reglamento de Montes (from 1962) regarding nature protection were changed by decree of December 23, 1972. This introduced a new type of protected area, Reserva . The Sitios Naturales de Interés Nacional and Monumentos Naturales de Interés Nacional were defined more concretely and upgraded by the fact that they could henceforth be set up by decree and no longer by a ministerial order. Legal sovereignty over the nature reserves and their administration was transferred to ICONA, which appointed a conservador for each reserve . These regulations were only of a provisional nature; a new nature conservation law has already been prepared.

Soon thereafter, the Tablas de Daimiel (1973) and Timanfaya (1974) national parks were created , with the Sitios Naturales Hayedo de Riofrío de Riaza , Hayedo de Montejo de la Sierra and Hayedo de Tejera Negra , the southernmost beech forests in Europe were placed under protection in 1974 .

Misión 565

Under the catchphrase Misión 565 , ICONA started an initiative in 1973 to convey nature conservation issues to the newly established “Government Commission for Environmental Issues” ( Comisión Delegada del Gobierno para el Medio Ambiente ). The declared goal was to put one percent of the state's area, ie around 5000  km² , under nature protection within six years, for which the ICONA estimated a financial requirement of five billion pesetas . The Ministry of Finance did not approve the funds, so the project could not be implemented. Some of its legal and administrative requirements were continued: the new nature conservation law and the "inventory of areas worthy of protection".

Nature Conservation Act of 1975

The draft of a modern nature conservation law was first presented to the ICONA board of directors in May 1973, and on May 2, 1975 it was passed as the “ Ley de Espacios Naturales Protegidos ”. It was not used in practice until the implementing provisions were issued in March 1977. Among other things, the law provided for a reclassification of the existing protected areas into the following types of protected areas:

Reserva Integral de Interes Científico
These were small areas that were completely protected because of their outstanding importance for science. They had to be set up by law and served to preserve rocks, flora or fauna. Uses were possible, but they had to be subordinate to the achievement of the underlying scientific goals.

Parque Nacional
The establishment of national parks were intended for relatively extensive protected areas. They should have primary ecosystems that have only been marginally influenced by humans. Their geomorphological peculiarities should have special value for culture, teaching or recreation.

Paraje Natural de Interés Nacional
Small areas, places or individual natural elements could be declared to be “natural landscapes of national interest”, which had a singular meaning in terms of their geology, flora, fauna or landscape. Economic use and visitor traffic were permitted as long as they were compatible with the objectives of nature conservation. They were established by law.

Parque Natural
Nature parks aim to enable people to come into contact with nature and to combine their protection with the regulated use of resources. They are set up by decree, based on the French Parc Naturel Régional .

Criticism and impact

The new nature conservation law was sometimes criticized in the professional world as being confused, not very systematic in its definitions and still too strongly committed to private interests. In addition, it did not correspond to the then current recommendations of the IUCN . It did not yet provide any regulations for the coordination of nature conservation tasks between the state and the regions.

On the other hand, the obligatory reclassification of existing protected areas, which was often accompanied by an increase in size, was rated positively. Sitios Naturales were converted into nature parks, provided they were large enough and met the other requirements. The rest of the Sitios Naturales were converted into Parajes Naturales , but could not be completed by 1980. Between 1977 and 1980 the protected area almost doubled. Almost all national parks were enlarged considerably, from a total of about 90,000 hectares to 160,000 hectares. The Garajonay National Park (1978) and the Monfragüe (1979) and Islas Cíes (1980) nature parks were newly established . In addition, 24 other nature reserves were in the planning or approval phase in 1980.

From 1975 to 1980 the ICONA had a compilation of the areas of particular interest for the purposes of nature conservation ( Inventario Abierto de Espacios Naturales de Protección Especial ) drawn up. The inventory had 633 entries, the recorded area was 3,666,845 hectares or 7.3 percent of the national territory. In addition to the size and description of the areas, the entries contained biogeographical and socio-economic information as well as recommendations for protective measures.

Transfer of responsibilities to the regions

The Spanish constitution of 1978 made it possible for largely autonomous regions to emerge. In some of these autonomous communities , their own standards for nature conservation were drawn up and protected areas were designated early on, in others the impetus for the establishment of nature reserves came from the authorities of the central state for a long time.

On the basis of Article 149.1.23 of the Constitution, responsibility for nature conservation issues was transferred to Catalonia and the Basque Country in 1980, and to the other Autonomous Communities in 1984 or 1985. An exceptional case was Navarre , which had already received this competence in 1974 but had not used it until then. Catalonia, the Basque Country and Navarre had exclusive powers to establish new protected areas on their territories due to their statute of autonomy. According to their statute, the other Autonomous Communities only had the right to set up natural parks ( Parques Naturales ).

Volcà del Croscat in the Garrotxa area

In March 1982, the Catalan Parliament passed the law establishing the Paraje Natural de Interés Nacional La Garrotxa . The Spanish government challenged this law as unconstitutional, but its action was dismissed with reference to Article 149.3 and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. After this confirmation, the Catalan government established further protected areas, initially on the basis of the State Nature Conservation Act of 1975, and from 1985 onwards on the basis of its own Catalan Nature Conservation Act.

While most regions adhered to the restriction of only setting up natural parks, Andalusia and Madrid ignored it. Thus, between 1984 and 1989 , Andalusia set up more than twenty Reservas Integrales , Parajes Naturales and Parques Naturales .

Dehesa with holm oaks in the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares Regional Park

The Comunidad de Madrid introduced a new type of protected area in 1985 with the declaration of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares Regional Park . The facility was challenged as unconstitutional but upheld by a 1989 judgment.

In the Balearic Islands , the first regional nature protection law was passed on March 14, 1984, although responsibility for nature protection matters was only assigned to them by a royal decree of August 1, 1984. There was only one type of reserve, the área natural de interés especial . In addition to the Balearic Islands, Catalonia in 1985, Navarra and the Canaries in 1987 and the Comunidad Valenciana in 1988 passed their own nature conservation laws. Due to deficiencies in form and content, these laws usually only remained in force for a few years before they were replaced by new provisions. Only the Catalan nature conservation law existed longer.

Nature Conservation Act of 1989

According to Article 149.1.23 of the Spanish Constitution of 1980, the power to enact framework laws on environmental protection issues lies with the state. Law 4/1989 of March 27, 1989, de Conservación de los Espacios Naturales y de la Flora y Fauna Silvestres , tried to re-regulate the cooperation between the state and the regions. It not only contained provisions for nature reserves, but also for biodiversity and the regulated use of natural resources. The law introduced the Plan de Ordenación de los Recursos Naturales (PORN) as a standard planning instrument in nature and resource protection.

The four basic types of protected areas were largely based on the IUCN recommendations from 1975:

Parques
"Parks" are protected areas as diverse as the national, natural and regional parks. A Plan Rector de Uso y Gestión (PRUG), a master plan for use and administration, had to be drawn up for parks .

Reservas Naturales
The nature reserves are a modification of the Reserva Integral of the Nature Conservation Act of 1975.

Monumentos Naturales
Natural monuments were not provided for in the Nature Conservation Act of 1975. This type of protected area was modeled on the Monumento Natural de Interés Nacional from 1927.

Paisajes Protegidos
landscape protection areas did not exist in Spain until then. This type of protected area was only rarely used in the following years, possibly because no criteria were defined for assessing the worthiness of a landscape.

The cooperation between the regions and the state was regulated by Section V of the Act. A newly established Comisión Nacional de Protección de la Naturaleza had advisory tasks. Under the chairmanship of the Director of ICONA (later the Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza y Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales ) there was a representative from each Autonomous Community.

In June 1995, at the request of the Autonomous Communities, the Constitutional Court ruled that the state's exclusive competence for national parks, as provided for in the Nature Conservation Act, was unconstitutional. Law 41/1997 of November 5, 1997 reorganized the provisions of the Nature Conservation Act on national parks. They should now be administered and financed jointly by the state and the autonomous community on whose territory they are located. A Plan Director de la Red de Parques Nacionales (master plan for the network of national parks) should indicate the direction. The Consejo de la Red de Parques Nacionales (National Park Council) has an advisory role, it is supposed to support the uniform and permanent continuation of the Spanish national parks. It is made up of representatives from the state and all the autonomous regions with national parks on their territory. For the management of each national park was a Comisión Mixta de Gestión (Joint Management Commission) set up an equal number of representatives of the central administration and the Autonomous Region in question. The Cabañeros National Park was established in November 1995, i.e. in a phase of legal uncertainty after the decision of the Constitutional Court and before the new law was passed. The law for the establishment of Cabañeros anticipated many provisions of Ley 41/1997 , so the park was administered jointly by the state and the region from the beginning,

The definition of the term national park was redrafted, now calling for a “high ecological and cultural value”.

Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Act 2007

In 2007 the nature conservation law was replaced by a Ley del Patrimonio Natural y de Biodiversidad . Among other things, nature conservation was given priority over other uses and the precautionary principle was introduced.

A Consejo Nacional para el Patrimonio Natural y la Biodiversidad is intended to facilitate public participation. The Ministry of the Environment is to draw up the Inventario del Patrimonio Natural y de la Biodiversidad with the participation of the autonomous communities and scientific institutions . In the Plan Estratégico Nacional del Patrimonio Natural y de la Biodiversidad , which is also to be drawn up by the Ministry of the Environment, the goals, criteria and activities for the protection, sustainable use or restoration of nature and biodiversity are to be defined. The Plan de Ordenación de los Recursos Naturales (PORN) was retained as a planning tool. Such a plan can now also be drawn up for corredores ecológicos (natural areas of unique importance for flora and fauna) and mountains, even if it is not a protected area. The scope of protected areas ( Parques , Reservas Naturales , Monumentos Naturales and Paisajes Protegidos ) provided for in the Nature Conservation Act of 1989 is retained, with new marine protected areas ( Áreas Marinas Protegidos ) being added.

Implementation of international guidelines

Ramsar Convention

Spain joined the Ramsar Convention for the Protection of Wetlands in 1982 . At that time, the Doñana and Tablas de Daimiel National Parks were the first to be included in the list of wetlands of international importance. The Comité Español del Convenio Ramsar , which brings together representatives of the central and regional authorities responsible for managing the wetlands, has been responsible for implementation since 1988 . The committee selects the areas, monitors compliance with the guidelines of the convention and coordinates the activities to protect the wetlands. Of the 38 Ramsar areas that existed in 2001, only two were not under nature protection, the rest was spread over eleven different types of protected areas. 29 of the 38 Ramsar areas were also “Special Protection Areas” according to the EU Birds Directive . At the end of September 2012 there were 74 Ramsar Protected Areas in Spain, with a total area of ​​303,211 hectares.

Man and the biosphere

In 1977, the first two Spanish biosphere reserves , Ordesa-Viñamala ( province of Huesca ) and Grazalema , were included in the UNESCO program “ Man and the Biosphere ”, followed in 1978 by Montseny . Seven biosphere reserves were created in the 1980s and only five more in the 1990s, despite the rapid increase in the number of Spanish nature reserves. Since 2000, 25 additional biosphere reserves have been established, so that in May 2009 their number was 40. A striking number of biosphere reserves are located in Andalusia, where protected areas were established early on that met the requirements of the “Man and the Biosphere” program. Nature reserves in other regions of Spain often have no or only small transition zones around the protected core areas.

EU Birds Directive

As part of the EU Birds Directive , numerous “Special Protection Areas” (Spanish Zona de Especial Protección para las Aves , or ZEPA for short) have been set up in Spain . In October 2001 there were already 303 ZEPAS spread over the whole of Spain, which together covered 12.25% of the national territory. They were mainly located in the "area states" among the autonomous communities , ie Castile-León , Castile-La Mancha , Andalusia and Extremadura . Of the 303 ZEPAS, only two extended beyond the borders of a region. This can be seen as an indication that they were selected on the basis of political rather than ecological criteria. In March 2008 there were 562 ZEPAS in Spain, representing a total of 18.73% of the national territory.

EU Habitats Directive

The aim of the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive 92/43 / EEC, also known as the Habitat Directive ( Directiva Hábitats ), is to set up a Europe-wide network of nature reserves ( Natura 2000 , Red Natura 2000 ). In Spain, implementation began with the adoption of royal decrees 1.997/1995 and 1.193/1998. As a result, a working group consisting of representatives from all the Autonomous Communities and the Ministry of Agriculture (later the Ministry of Environment) was set up in 1995. The state authorities should coordinate, provide technical support and compile the Inventario Nacional de Hábitats , while the regions select, map and describe the protected areas. Because detailed information about the biodiversity in Spain was missing in the early 1990s, the habitats of animals and plants began to be recorded in the Inventario Nacional de Hábitats . This task was funded by the Life-Naturaleza project, which involved 27 universities, three research centers and almost 300 scientists. The selection of the protected areas was as good as completed in 2001. In May 2008 1434 areas were proposed as Lugar de Importancia Comunitaria , which together were 11,590,726.11 hectares on land and 780,869.37 hectares in the sea.

In January 2019, the European Commission sued Spain for failure to comply with Directive 2000/60 / EC (Water Framework Directive) at the Court of Justice of the European Union , as the groundwater bodies that feed the Doñana wetlands are not adequately protected.

Protected marine areas

The constitution of the Kingdom of Spain provides for the regulation of fisheries at sea to be the sole responsibility of the central government. This results in the right to impose fishing quotas and to set up protected areas for the regeneration of fish stocks. In addition, it is generally responsible for the protection of the marine ecosystem and its plant and animal species, which the Constitutional Court has confirmed in several judgments. These tasks are carried out by the Secretaría General de Pesca Marítima and the Ministry of the Environment. In 1995 over 5% of the land area of ​​Spain was under protection, but only about 1% of the approximately 100,000 km² continental shelf around Spain and the associated islands. Of this, 70% of the area was allocated to the Reserva marina Isla Graciosa - Islotes Norte de Lanzarote .

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Alfonso Mulero Mendigorri: La protección de Espacios Naturales en España. Ediciones Mundi-Prensa, Madrid 2002, ISBN 84-8476-069-3 .
  2. ↑ Memoria Digital de Canarias: Inventario Abierto de Espacios Naturales de Protección Especial - Las Palmas.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / bdigital.ulpgc.es   Scanned excerpt, 257 pages, 63 MB.
  3. ↑ LEY 4/1989, de 27 de Marzo, de Conservación de los Espacios Naturales y de la Flora y Fauna Silvestres (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Ley 42/2007, de 13 de diciembre, del Patrimonio Natural y de la Biodiversidad .
  5. ↑ Una ley para garantizar la biodiversidad y el patrimonio natural ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Carta Local (Revista de la Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias), July – August 2007, pp. 14–19. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.femp.es
  6. ↑ The List of Wetlands of International Importance (PDF; 928 kB), as of September 28, 2012, pp. 36–37, (English)
  7. ↑ German UNESCO Commission: The List of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. As of May 2009, accessed June 20, 2009.
  8. ↑ a b Spanish Ministry of the Environment: Red Natura 2000 en España tables with statistical information, accessed on June 19, 2009.
  9. ↑ European Commission: Commission sues Spain for failure to protect the Doñana wetlands. January 24, 2019, accessed January 24, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Jerónimo Corral: Estrategia de conservación de la diversidad marina. In: F. D. Pineda, J. M. de Miguel, M. A. Casado, J. Montalvo (eds.): La Diversidad Biológica de España. Prentice Hall, Madrid 2002, ISBN 84-205-3515-X , pp. 339-358.

See also

Web links