Farmers in the northern crown of Doñana without water rights for irrigation will be able to receive up to 100,000 euros per hectare over five years in exchange for abandoning crops, renaturalizing the land or reforesting it. It follows from the agreement reached by the central government and the Junta de Andalucía after weeks of negotiations. The pact has been initialed by the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, and the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno. In this way, the Board withdraws the controversial parliamentary initiative to regularize some 1,900 hectares of illegal irrigation, while both promise a joint millionaire investment.
Therefore, it is intended to curb the over-extraction of water, to give an answer to the fact that there are farmers who invoke non-existent historical water rights and, above all, to avoid EU fines for breaching European directives to protect the Great Wetland.
The Board and the Spanish Government are committed to investing more than 1.4 billion in Doñana and the surrounding area with measures to protect the park and promote agriculture, livestock, fishing, crafts and renewable energy in 14 surrounding municipalities of the park between 2023 and 2027. The Central Government will contribute 350 million, which is added to the 356 million committed in previous environmental actions, while the Board will contribute 700 million. "These are unimaginable figures that must be well invested", remarked Minister Ribera.
The agreement also aspires to achieve social peace and provides a way out of the problem of the approximately 600 families in the northern crown of Doñana with illegal irrigation that, according to the Board, "found themselves in certain legal limbo and they saw their future threatened". In reality, these families transformed rainfed or forest land into irrigated land outside the so-called Maduixa Pact, which wanted to wipe out illegalities and regularize only the irrigated lands before 2004. "We had a commitment to these families and it is fair to recognize the effort and generosity of accepting the agreement", said Moreno.
Farmers will be able to receive up to 100,000 euros per hectare for five years (at a rate of 20,000 euros each year) if they abandon crops, renaturalize the land or reforest it.
Of the aid of 100,000 euros, the largest part, 70,000 euros, will be provided by the Central Government, while the Board will allocate 20,000 euros and the Diputació de Huelva will add another 10,000. The beneficiaries will undertake to maintain the new forestry use of the surface for which they receive the aid for a period of no less than 30 years. Farmers who do not want to stop farming can also choose to convert their farms into rain-fed crops or organic production, but in this case, the aid amounts will be "much lower".
Minister Ribera indicated that the agreed solution is not the conjunctural response "to a small group of interests" represented by the illegal irrigators, but that "it is a broad program for all the residents of the area of influence of Mistress". "We have not bought irrigated land or water rights that do not exist. We want to promote compliance with the rules", he added.
The Andalusian president said it is a very beneficial pact. “It was smart to take advantage of the important opportunity. Everyone wins, no one loses. The neighbors, the town councils, the organizations of the area, the ecological entities...", he affirmed, win.
WWF expressed disagreement with the fact that farmers who farm outside regularization can access the aid announced for reforestation or conversion to rainfed or organic crops. The spokesman, Felipe Fuentelsaz, was totally opposed to the aid "going to illegal farmers". With regard to the decision taken by the Board, multiple factors could have influenced it, but especially the growing pressure from the European Commission, which has warned of a ruling by the European Court of Justice that may result in a million dollar fine against Spain for breaching the European directives that oblige it to protect Doñana.
