Future bleak for Spain's Doñana National Park

Emblematic and enigmatic, in 2002 there were fewer than a hundred left in the wild. Now, thanks to conservation and reintroduction efforts, over 1,600 roam free across Spain and Portugal.

But this elusive creature generally stays very far from humans - and with good reason.

What a surprise then, when the CGTN crew went to film the park's entrance sign, to hear that a lynx had sauntered across the road at that very spot less than 15 minutes earlier.

Luckily wildlife photographer Birgit Droge was on hand to immortalize the moment – and kindly shared the photo with us.

The lynx, however, is a rare success story in this part of the world. Doñana National Park's world-renowned biodiversity is in real peril, its aquifers and lagoons drying up.

These are Europe's biggest wetlands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve, and home to species like the lynx and imperial eagle along with countless other smaller species.

But its fragile ecosystems have come under threat from drought and overexploitation of water due to demands from a growing population, farming and tourism.

Once a refuge for many endangered species, now Doñana itself - with its unique lagoons and ecosystems - is on the endangered list.

Since 2013, 60 percent of the freshwater lagoons - including the largest, the Santa Olalla lagoon - have dried up completely during the summers of 2022 and 2023.

'It's alarming - If things keep going like this I don't see any future'

To find out more CGTN spoke to Leo Fernandez Pena, a conservationist on the lynx project team who's been working at Doñana for nearly 25 years.

"In the last eight to 10 years, the lynx population has occupied much more space and are more numerous outside than inside the national park," he said.

"Just look at the bird census numbers for example, they're dramatic," he continued.

"Many of these species that used to spend the winter, nest, and lay eggs in Doñana are suffering, we've never seen a situation this alarming before, particularly for amphibians and aquatic birds."

CGTN visited the Acebuche lagoon, or what's left of it. It dried up five years ago, eliminating habitat for a huge variety of species. In its heyday half a million birds would winter in Doñana, but this past December only 70,000 were registered.

Even NASA highlighted Doñana's delicate and desperate situation in summer 2023 in an article called 'Water Woes in Doñana National Park.'

2024 has seen some rain, so is that a glimmer of hope maybe?

"Thankfully this seems to be a somewhat normal year in terms of rainfall," explained Fernandez Pena, "but it isn't enough to repair the damage done by 10 years of drought. 

"The truth is if things keep going like this I don't see any future, there is no future."

Why is Doñana drying up?

The national park sits on an underground water reserve in an area almost twice the size of London, but that water is being sucked out by a complex system of wells and pipes for human and agriculture needs.

A bird's-eye-view from a drone shows a sea of plastic-covered greenhouses that conceal part of the answer.

Conservationists say water theft is killing Doñana, but farmers argue that this is their livelihood.

‌CGTN traveled to a strawberry plantation in Doñana where dozens of workers comb through vast production lines of fruit for ripe red berries.

There we spoke with Manuel Delgado, the spokesperson for Doñana’s Agriculture Association.

"Around 80,000 people are employed directly by this type of agriculture in this area, one hectare of red berries provides full-time work for 10 people, because machines can't do this," he said. "It's all done by hand.

‌"We’re talking about many towns around here with a lot of families economically dependent on this industry."

‌The Andalucia region in Spain suffers from high unemployment, particularly youth unemployment at around 40 percent according to government numbers.

When the right-leaning regional government voted in 2022 to grant an amnesty to illegal farming it sparked an international outcry.

Within days more than 150,000 people in Germany signed a petition to boycott strawberries grown in Doñana, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Tweeted in support saying "climate change denial is destroying our environment."

"These so-called illegal plantations are actually many different types of cultivations. It's not up to us to solve this issue, the administration has to do this. What we do ask is that the solutions come on a case-by-case basis. People can't be left behind, solutions need to be found according to each specific situation."

When you hear locals explain the situation of these illegal strawberry grow houses, it's a complicated situation. Farming in the area has had very lax regulations going all the way back to the 1950s or even earlier.

People claimed unused land and simply started farming it, calling it theirs, and that practice has largely continued until today. So where could you draw the line at legal or illegal? 1995? 2005?

The size of the farm is also an issue, explained Delgado.

"It's not the same for a farmer who has five hectares of land where two are legal and three illegal, that farmer needs one type of solution and another who has 40 hectares where 20 are legal and 20 illegal. That farmer can exist perfectly well with 20 hectares, so one solution might work for one farmer that doesn't work for another.

"Everyone has to sit at the table and come up with a solution for these families."

In November 2023 a $1.5 billion deal was struck between the national and regional governments aimed at incentivising the farmers to switch to ecological farming, but that's yet to be put in place.

Doñana's strawberry farmers question strategy

Delgado questions the idea that it’s possible to switch to another crop.

He argued: "Lots of people say, 'Well why don't you just change crop?' But what crop should we change to? We remind people that red berries don't need huge amounts of water, around 4,500 cubic square meters of water per hectare per year, most other crops need 6,000, and look at avocados, they need 10,000.

"We have to keep all the people in mind whose livelihoods depend on this."

But he does recognize the importance of saving Doñana. "We come from here, if anyone has Doñana in their hearts it's us," he declared.

"We know and have understood for a long time that our survival goes hand in hand with the survival of Doñana. Without Doñana we don't exist."

He stated that solutions to the problem include the government following through on a promise it made in 2018 to build a water transfer and bring water in from another area, saying that Spain's water is administered poorly.

For Fernandez Pena, it’s already too late. "It's like they're trying to find solutions now when the water's already gone, they've waited so long because of social pressures and all these different interests related to the economy," said Pena.

Meanwhile Doñana's wetlands and treasured biodiversity remain in grave danger of disappearing forever.

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