According to the Biodiversity in Spain 2010 report, only 9.4 percent of the animal species in the worst state of conservation have at least one action plan. Which means thatmore than 90 percent of the country’s endangered species are unprotected.
The worst situation, according to this report prepared by the Observatory of Sustainability in Spain (OSE), “occurs in the regions of Murcia, Andalusia and Madrid”, where no action plan has been approved, neither for animals nor for plants , in the 20 years since the first Catalog of Threatened Species appeared. Of the animal species for which measures have been approved, half have been for birds and a quarter for mammals. Only six of the protected species are invertebrates, in addition to some fish, four are amphibians and three are reptiles. According to the data, Spain “did not reach the European objective of 2010 to stop the loss of biodiversity”.
The artificialization of the land, the greatest threat
Climate change, forest fires, invasive alien species, unsustainable use of natural resources and pollution are the main dangers to biodiversity in our country. But on all these problems one stands out strongly: changes in land use. The artificialization of the territory, intensive agriculture and the development of transport infrastructures constitute for the Observatory a great impediment to the conservation of species and sustainability, since 20 percent of the new artificial areas have been built on forests, scrub and grasslands .
The researchers also put the risk of desertification at 37 percent of the surface of Spain, aggravating the more than probable increase in fires, which are increasingly dangerous and lasting.
The Biodiversity in Spain report also regrets the progressive elimination of ecological corridors with the consequent creation of ghettos of isolated habitats . This problem, according to the group of scientists who has prepared the report, could be solved by applying “an effective agricultural and rural development policy, which encourages extensive agriculture and promotes payment to farmers and ranchers for the environmental services they provide to the rest of society “.
