Exotic and striking, due to their pink color and stylized figure, flamingos attract attention these days in L'Albufera de València, where there are hundreds that can be seen from the Racó de l'Olla viewpoint. But beyond the bucolic nature of the picture, the presence of so many birds greatly worries the rice growers of the Natural Park because their presence can be “lethal” to the crops. This is explained by farmers from AVA-ASAJA but also from La Unió Llauradora i Ramadera, since both agricultural associations want to warn about the massive presence of these birds in the Valencian territory.
AVA-ASAJA released a statement yesterday, in which they acknowledge that they are scared. “If measures are not taken before the next rice campaign, the flamingos are going to do us terrible damage,” says the head of the rice sector of the Valencian Farmers Association (AVA-ASAJA), José Pascual Fortea. The agricultural organization recalls that flocks of flamingos have caused serious damage in recent years and that the breeding and multiplication of specimens in the area threaten to increase losses in the sector.
In spring, the flamingos trample the newly planted fields with such virulence that farmers not only lose those plants but, in many cases, do not replant because it is not worth it, since the production harvested during the harvest is so meager that it does not compensate for the losses. production costs. “They don't eat the rice, they stir it and let it float in the water. They cause great destruction,” explains Enric Bellido, farmer and member of La Unió Llauradora i Ramadera.
They are issuing the alert, they explain, because they are aware of what already happened last year, when more than 7,300 specimens wintered in L'Albufera de València. They were not the only ones in the Valencian Community, another 3,300 visited the Santa Pola Salt Flats, in Alicante. In both cases they were historical highs.
The rice growers of Andalusia and Catalonia had already warned them of the harm they could cause, where farmers in the Ebro Delta also combat the massive presence of these birds. “There they carry out raids at night to scare them away, with spotlights, lights, sound, but we have smallholdings and we can't go around all the fields every night because during the day we continue working,” explains Enric Bellido. He considers that this is an “invasive species” that shows the serious climatic situation: “The fact that they are here speaks of how great the environmental imbalance is, because the other wetlands have dried up,” he explains with the same alert tone as the representatives of AVA-ASAJA.
That is why both entities ask the institutions to reduce the population of flamingos. For his part, Fortea, from AVA-ASAJA, warns that "either the Administrations reduce the population of flamingos to reasonable levels that make it compatible with the rice-growing activity or they establish a line of compensation with a sufficient economic amount to cover the total damages." in cultivation. The situation is very worrying and standing idly by is not an option if we want to continue producing rice, a crop that contributes decisively to the maintenance of the natural park.”
After the damage that the wild boars had done in the Valencian countryside, the Department of Agriculture committed in August to finance a line of aid, contemplated in the budgets, to alleviate the damage caused by hunting fauna and which, they assure, will be launched in 2024. However, the Ministry explains that in the particular case of the flamingo, as it is a protected and non-hunting species, the damage caused by these birds could not be included in this line of aid.
They assure that "the situation is delicate, because we are faced with a protected species, with Environmental powers, highly valued by society and in an environment as unique as the Albufera of Valencia." For this reason, the Ministry is looking for other support formulas through the rice sector. In La Unió they explain that they have already met with the department about this issue and that they are waiting for a next meeting to address the issue.
During these Christmas days, there are many Valencians who have come to the Park to see the flight of these birds, which is why the president of AVA-ASAJA, Cristóbal Aguado, comments that although “society is very happy that there are thousands and thousands of flamingos in our territory, you must know that this has consequences in the crop fields, which is where they go to eat. In those rice fields that flamingos invade, farmers possibly lose an entire year's harvest, which is a real ruin,” Aguado emphasizes.
