Juan Carlos del Olmo, secretary general of WWF, asks the PP to withdraw "definitively" the proposed law processed in the Andalusian Parliament to "regulate" illegal irrigation in the area of Doñana. WWF denounced 10 years ago the massive theft of water around the park as the cause of the drying up of its lagoons, today in a critical situation. His complaint condemned Spain to the Court of Justice of the EU for breaching the Water and Habitats directives, so the administrations are obliged to protect the site under threat of a fine.
What do you think of the PP and Vox law proposal in Andalusia?
The legalization of these 1,900 hectares of illegal irrigation, as they intend, is true barbarism. For years we have been fighting against the expansion of red fruit and greenhouse agriculture. It is a proposal of law that has neither head nor feet considering the impact it will have on farmers and on the ecological plan.
Because?
Because the PP and the Junta d'Andalusia have skipped all the rules. I have never seen such a frontal rejection: from the scientific community, the European Commission, the ministry, the Guadalquivir Confederation. There is not a single voice in favor of the proposal other than the interested parties themselves and the PP and Vox.
Juanma Moreno Bonilla says that he freezes the processing of the law during the electoral stage.
It's an electoral maneuver. They want to get out of the mess they've gotten themselves into. Doñana, a heritage of humanity, cannot be at the expense of the partisan interests of the PP in Huelva. The only reasonable thing is a definitive withdrawal of the proposal, as requested by the European Commission and science.
What has he learned in this long litigation to defend Doñana?
We have always encountered administrations that say they love and defend Doñana while they attack it with absolutely incomprehensible projects, such as housing developments, pipelines, roads and above all with the expansion of agriculture.
Is it still happening?
Yes, because the president of the Board says that Doñana is a jewel, but promotes a plan that could be catastrophic for the natural space. We do not evolve; the lack of knowledge about the ecology of Doñana shown by the politicians is surprising.
Has it always been like this?
There are politicians who think that Doñana is preserved with administrative boundaries in the park without understanding that what happens around it, such as the relatively remote irrigation fields, affects it. There is a Doñana on the surface, which surrounds the national park, with pine forests and dunes; and another, underground, the 277 aquifer, which connects everything. This Doñana, no one sees her.
And what does it mean?
Therefore, when politicians, such as Moreno Bonilla, say that their plan does not affect Doñana, they are committing a lie. It is clear that it affects him; the conservation of the national park and its surroundings depends on the fact that there are streams, corridors, rain-fed crops and olive groves, and that everything is not a continuous greenhouse.
What will happen if the bill continues after 28-M?
It would make the agreements reached after many years disappear, and which were reflected in the Forest Crown Plan, in which we undertook to advance the regulation of 9,000 has and leave out the 1,900 has agreed that they would be removed. It will cause enormous damage to the national park.
Is there something behind it?
The trick of the PP is to recognize water rights and meet irrigation expectations while continuing to irrigate with illegal wells. With this, the aquifer would continue to be damaged. At the same time, it harms legal farmers, who are waiting for a transfer (from Tinto-Odiel). The PP has sold farmers the idea that they will be able to receive water from this transfer. But the law (2018) provides for water transport only for legal purposes and for supply.
What is the PP looking for?
It was an electoral strategy, which is now rectified. Behind this law there is no noble intention aimed at rescuing poor farmers treated unfairly; there is no right to climb back. No court has recognized these rights. They have sought to win several town halls around Doñana where these illegals are mainly based. And the second, even more serious, is pure deliberate speculation; it seeks to achieve capital gains thanks to expectations of irrigation that will cause the value of the land to multiply.
What must be done in Doñana to comply with the sentence?
Comply with the law. In many cases it is lawless territory. And that means eliminating illegal wells and especially eliminating these 1,900 illegal hectares.
Who should close the wells?
Both of us. The Board has powers to close the estates and the Confederation to close the wells. We ask that the Board close these estates as a precaution; the Confederation is closing quite a few wells but the Board has not closed a single illegal hectare.
What else is needed to fulfill the sentence?
On the regularizable surface, it is necessary to tend towards a greater efficiency in the use of water. In the north of Doñana, the advance of intensive agriculture must be stopped. It is necessary to recover the rivers (Guadiamar, Brazo de la Torre) that have been interrupted. All its water that arrived from the north in Doñana is drunk by intensive agriculture. We must massively restore ecosystems and make Doñana more resilient to climate change.
Is it necessary to reduce the cultivation of strawberries and other red fruits?
Just because they're legal crops doesn't mean they're sustainable; much progress is needed. Faced with the climate change scenario, there may not be enough water for 9,000 hectares and it will be necessary to carry out an agricultural conversion in the area and reduce the number. A serious study is lacking. The crops that remain must be truly sustainable crops when it comes to using pesticides or nitrates so that they have minimal impact.
