Spending a few hours, no matter how few, with this biologist is having all the ballots to become a fan of nature. Without fuss and renouncing the least scientism, he imparts his wealth of knowledge, which ends up soaking those around him with biological diversity, behavior patterns, food chains, threats of extinction and other concepts of the same spirit.
“I have to confess, I am passionate about the stories of plants and animals”, comments this Valladolid man who harbors the desire that these issues become part of the culture of modern society. And he has been involved in this for half his life, from the moment when, just finished his university studies, he joined the team of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente to write Fauna, the most successful encyclopedia in the history of Spain.
Son of the writer Miguel Delibes, he declares himself eternally grateful to his father for the cultural heritage that he has provided and which is manifested in the admiration and surprise that nature always produces.
In his book Life it is glimpsed that he enjoys disclosure.
–Does this discipline have something to do with research?
-They are two very different activities. A person who has been researching his whole life and intends to disseminate his knowledge accepts an important challenge that will be very difficult for him to complete. In my case, I think that the investigation is my obligation and, whether I like it or not, it has to be successful. On the other hand, disclosure is a luxury, so it burdens me much less than investigating.
–What is more important?
-Both are equally essential. If you don’t investigate, you won’t have anything to divulge. What you disclose are the results of an investigation. When you investigate, you are generally limited to a very narrow field, while what you disclose is usually more like a residue of what you have been learning over time, and not just what you have done.
–Megacities, greenhouse effect, global market … Are we the worst thing that could have happened to our planet?
-I think there is nothing good or bad for the planet. I have already said it here, in Doñana, in times of drought: nature does not ask for anything; it has no conscience, no voice. It makes no difference to the Earth having 20 million species, than ten, or none at all. He does not think, he does not suffer. Man is currently a catastrophe for the rest of the living beings that are now here, and he has the risk of being so for himself as well.
–The latter does not seem to be of great concern to human beings.
-Yes, but you should be concerned. This will turn into a desert. Some species will disappear and others will appear. The one who needs nature to remain what it is, is man, us. We are the main problem, but we are also the only ones who realize that we lack that nature, as it is now.
–When will the Iberian lynx disappear?
-I trust that it will never disappear, but of course, if things continue as they have been, I would not give it more than 20 years.
–Can the growth of a region, such as the south-west of Madrid, be made dependent on the survival of a dozen lynxes?
-I suppose not just because of the lynxes. The lynxes are an emblem of everything that you want to keep there. Madrid will be richer, even if it grows less, if it conserves all the richness of its habitats and its species. With its pastures, its rivers, its forests, its imperial eagles, its black vultures and also with its lynxes that, if they are lost, will be forever.
–Is the National Hydrological Plan as essential as they want us to see it?
-From an economic and purely developmental point of view, it seems that way. But this has nothing to do with life. From that angle I do not know it and, therefore, I cannot judge it. In any case, it does call my attention that it is sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment, which, I understand, would have to fight to make a Hydrological plan as less aggressive as possible. Its role is the same as that of the Ministry of Public Works.
–Will we be able to manufacture the wild species to our measure, that is, resistant to dioxins, insecticides and other similar products?
-There is a long way to go for this to happen. My fear is that these species will disappear because we have not been able to control what threatens them now.
–What do those immigrants to whom we close our door have to do with the conservation of nature?
-80 percent of the world’s biodiversity is in the poorest countries. We will never be able to impose on its inhabitants the obligation to conserve that wealth if we do not give them outlets so that they can live in a different way than they do now, which is precisely at the cost of the resources that we want them to conserve. We demand that they pay their foreign debt, but not cut down the forest, which is the only thing they have, to pay it back to us.
–Are there migrants in nature?
-You can not put doors to the field, as the saying goes. There are many species that take advantage of the resources available in places very distant from each other. That is why they make very long trips every year.
–What about invasive species?
-It has been the main cause of extinction in recent centuries. They can be species that find it easy to live with us, such as rats. But today many others become invaders because of us. We carry viruses and bacteria in less than a day from one side of the planet to the other, thanks to modern airplanes.
–What do you think of the course that the Doñana case has taken?
-The least I can say is that it is surprising. It is hard to believe that in a case where there has been imprudence, with serious consequences, it does not even come to trial. I am not sure, because it is a technical matter, that there are criminal culprits, but I am sure that it should at least be settled in a public trial, with arguments, light and stenographers. It is the minimum required.
–Does Doñana die?
-There is some possibility that a disaster like Boliden would end Doñana, but it is also true that the sensitivity towards this place only increases with the passing of the years. More than 30,000 million pesetas have been spent to mitigate the damage caused by that terrible event. It is likely that he has many ailments and that he will sometimes limp, but I believe that he will never die.
–Hunting in national parks, construction of cable cars and railways … these episodes suggest that it is almost better not to protect nature.
-It is true that there is a contradiction. There is a certain complacency on the part of the authorities in declaring protected natural spaces, but at the same time the permission to continue building and developing in those places continues.
–Won’t those spaces end up becoming natural islands scattered in the middle of ecological nothingness?
-Some, like Doñana, are very big. And it is difficult for 30,000 protected hectares of marshes to stop being conserved as such. But I recognize that this is an exception. Most of the protected natural areas in Spain are much smaller, which means that they will continue to lose their biological diversity.
–Do we effectively protect nature in Spain?
-We do the same as if we had a store with a beautiful window, but with nothing in the back room. It is true that there is a sincere desire to protect nature, but at the same time there is the contradiction of wanting to use it without any kind of restriction. I think the belief that conserving nature requires repressing certain activities fails.
–How is science in Spain?
– From what is said, it seems that regular. I think it goes through a bump more administrative than real. It has specific problems, such as that of scholarship holders or that of the incorporation of new scientists into the world of work, something that we have dragged on since the 1980s, and other more global ones, such as lack of foresight. This is the same with which the Ministry of the Environment was created or with which the old Ministry of Education has been converted into that of Science and Technology
Alfredo Merino
This interview was published in June 2001, in number 241 of VERY Interesting.
