Environmental entities have demanded that the Government buy once and for all some 1,350 hectares of land in Ponent to promote biodiversity and the habitat of vulnerable species such as the Dupont's lark, the little bustard and the sandgrouse.
These are lands that the administration committed to acquire 13 years ago and that are included in the natural environment protection plan approved to compensate for the impact of the Segarra-Garrigues canal.
Ipcena, SEO/Birdlife and Depana give the Government six months to buy the land before filing a lawsuit. In turn, they ask to stop the work on the farm of Mas de Melons where Acció Climàtica wants to favor the establishment of the whooping lark, since they assure that it is an unsuitable space for the species.
In 2010, the Government committed to purchasing 1,350 hectares in the Ponent regions to compensate for the environmental impact of the Segarra-Garrigues canal project.
The reality is that he has not yet purchased any, as explained by the environmental entities Ipcena, SEO/Birdlife and Depana.
These are lands that have a total purchase price of 36 million euros and are distributed, among others, in the drylands of Mas de Melons and Alfés and in those of Segrià and Utxesa, in the Sierra de Bellmunt and Almenara or in Plans of Zion. Environmentalists argue that the purchase of these lands should allow the protection of species such as the churra, the little bustard, the waving lark and the Eurasian sandgrouse.
"If we don't act quickly, these species will disappear from Catalonia, they are at the limit. Let them buy now," said the general secretary of Depana, Francesc Espinal.
At the same time as they denounce this non-compliance, they also criticize the action that the Department of Climate Action is carrying out in Mas de Melons, between Segrià and Les Garrigues, to encourage the wood lark to establish itself in this area.
Specifically, they reproach the Government for instead of acquiring and managing the land in the Alfés thyme area, which is the only place in Catalonia where this endangered species has been located, it is trying to encourage this bird to establish itself in Mas of Melons, a place that they consider "inadequate" and does not harm, they say, the protection of other vulnerable species.
For all these reasons, they demand that the Government paralyze the Mas de Melons project and commit to acquiring the land within a maximum period of six months. Otherwise, they say, they will file a lawsuit.
