Life in the Balance
By Awake! correspondent in Spain
THE familiar landing strip is nowhere in sight as we circle to make our scheduled landing. The runway has inexplicably been torn up, and traveler service facilities have been demolished. Only an ugly, inhospitable terrain draws ever closer. Our lives hang in the balance!
Such is the tragic circumstance of many migrating waterfowl when they arrive at their winter quarters. The wetlands, for centuries their traditional haven, are being implacably destroyed to make way for urban or agricultural development. Often considered wastelands of no value, these habitats, vital to thousands of species, are quickly disappearing from the earth’s surface.
Coto Doñana Threatened
Recently, one of the greatest expanses of marshland in southern Europe was so threatened. The survival of thousands of aquatic birds was in the balance. Concerned naturalists, appealing for funds to save this priceless wildlife sanctuary, warned a Danish hunting club: “Gentlemen, if the lakes of the Coto [in Spain] are allowed to disappear, within five years there will be no ducks in Denmark.”
The Coto referred to was the Coto Doñana wildlife preserve, located in the southwestern corner of Spain. Together with the extensive marshes of the Guadalquivir basin that border it, the preserve is recognized as one of Europe’s three or four most important resting-places for migratory birds. It is also home to 125 species of birds as well as numerous mammals and reptiles.
At a meeting of the World Council of Ornithologists in New York in 1962, the following observation was made: “The marshes of the Guadalquivir constitute the last sure refuge in Europe of the pink flamingo and some species of heron; . . . it is an area where such rare and beautiful species breed as the white-headed duck, crested coot, purple gallinule and many others impossible to enumerate.”
Because of its status as a privileged hunting ground of kings and nobles, its relative inaccessibility, and its poor quality soil, these 270 square miles [700 sq km] had for centuries largely escaped human encroachment. However, pollution, land reclamation, and urban development were endangering the existence of the preserve.
The need to obtain international backing to finance the purchase of Coto Doñana prompted the establishment of the World Wildlife Fund in 1961. The first transaction of this international body was to buy a portion of Coto Doñana in cooperation with the Spanish government. The preserve was given a reprieve.
‘Ecological Crime’
The marshes were still mainly in private hands, and there was a constant threat of pollution from neighboring farmland. In 1973 a potent insecticide sprayed on nearby rice fields caused the death of some 40,000 aquatic birds. It was described by one naturalist as a disaster “unparalleled in the annals of mankind’s ecological crimes.” Semivirgin beaches were coveted by property developers, and there was a scheme to construct a coastal highway right through the park. Meanwhile, the marshes were being drained inexorably to make way for agricultural projects.
Finally, in 1978 the whole area was declared a national park by the Spanish government. Pollution was tightly controlled, the highway scheme was abandoned, and a hydraulic system was established to maintain the natural water level of the marshes. The preserve could flourish once more.
Already, the benefits can be observed: Exotic birds, such as flamingos, are increasing, while other endangered fauna is being safeguarded from further regression. Visitors to the park may view many species in their natural habitat from observatories that do not disturb the wildlife, while organized excursions permit the public to encounter firsthand the herds of deer and wild boars that graze within its confines. But let us take a closer look at some of the park’s unique features.
The Park’s Role in Migration
From the Soviet Union and Scandinavia come 40,000 geese and as many as 200,000 ducks. Countless waders from as far north as the Arctic Circle winter on the tranquil beaches or probe for food in the shallow inland waters. In the spring the winter visitors depart, and from Africa arrive the spoonbills, the herons, the kites, and numerous other birds that breed here during the summer months.
Many other species stop to rest and feed in the park while migrating to distant lands. In August hundreds of storks congregate here before crossing the Strait of Gibraltar en route to Africa. The same is true of many birds of prey that cannot travel great distances over the sea because of the lack of thermals, rising hot air currents, that enable them to stay aloft with minimum exertion.
However, there is one permanent resident that excites the interest and admiration of all visitors to the park—the imperial eagle.
The Imperial Eagle
During this century, the number of imperial eagles has decreased alarmingly throughout its restricted habitat. Egg collectors mercilessly robbed the nests, while others hunted the adult birds to provide museum trophies or in the mistaken belief that the eagle was depleting the game that the hunters coveted. The Spanish variety, distinct in some ways from the eastern imperial eagle, was decimated. In the 1970’s only 30 pairs survived in Spain, and it seemed inevitable that another species would pass onto the list of birds exterminated by man’s callousness.
Nevertheless, the conscientious efforts of the park’s naturalists in behalf of this eagle have already shown positive results. There are now some 14 pairs nesting in the park, the maximum number it can sustain because of the large territory of 19 square miles [50 sq km] that each pair requires. Every nest is carefully monitored. If three eggs are found in one nest and only one in another, an egg is carefully transferred, so that each nest contains two eggs. Imperial eagles are unable to rear more than two eaglets successfully at a time.
To watch the eagles and kites soar in the heavens, to observe thousands of flamingos wading gracefully in the blue waters of Doñana’s lakes, to see firsthand the wild boars cavorting under the pine trees, is to comprehend the unique variety and beauty of Jehovah’s creation. In densely populated Europe, such places are rare indeed and more than merit the painstaking vigilance that their survival requires.
Now, when geese and ducks arrive in autumn, storks in January, spoonbills and herons and kites in spring, awaiting them is a protected refuge where they can rest, winter, or reproduce. Here, life in all its varieties abounds. Doubtless the 300,000 yearly visitors are thankful that, at least in this natural paradise, life, which was once in the balance, is permitted to thrive.
[Picture on page 16]
Red-crested pochard
[Credit Line]
J. L. González/INCAFO, S. A.
[Pictures on page 17]
Spoonbills
[Credit Line]
A. Camoyán/INCAFO, S. A.
Purple gallinule
[Credit Line]
A. Camoyán/INCAFO, S. A.
[Picture on page 18]
Imperial eagle protects its young from the hot sun
[Credit Line]
J. A. Fernández/INCAFO, S. A.