The First Vice-President of the Government, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, together with the Minister of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Elena Espinosa, officially inaugurated today the Spanish Wetlands Centre (CEHUM) in Gandía, Valencia, in an event that also celebrated World Wetlands Day.
The First Vice-President of the Government, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, together with the Minister of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Elena Espinosa, officially inaugurated today the Spanish Wetlands Centre (CEHUM) in Gandía, Valencia, in an event that also celebrated World Wetlands Day.
The Spanish Wetlands Centre (CEHUM) is a joint project of the Biodiversity Foundation with the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the University of Valencia and the City Council of Gandía, which takes the opportunity to
witness to the exhaustive work of compiling information on Spanish wetlands carried out by the Spanish Government to date.
The First Vice-President herself had announced, in 2008, the creation of a national and international reference centre on the wise use that can be made of wetlands, to strengthen the conservation of these valuable ecosystems. In Spain, particularly, wetlands have been forming, over time, a valuable culture associated with their uses; this, thanks to the variety of aquatic environments they present, the diversity of species they host and the
uses that they sustain.
A fundamental ecosystem in the regulation of water
The attributes and functions of wetlands play a prominent role in the hydrological cycle (aquifer recharge/discharge) and their conservation is part of the solution to the problem of climate change (wetlands are important CO2 sinks and regulate the microclimate of the
place).
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, known as the RAMSAR Convention – ratified by 159 countries and in force in Spain since 1982 – registers 63 sites representing more than 280,000 hectares in Spanish territory, between a total number of 1,880 sites and some 190 million hectares worldwide.
Humid ecosystems are among the most severely threatened on the planet. In Spain alone, it is estimated that, during the last 50 years, approximately 60 percent of the total waterlogged area has disappeared. Experts point out that there is much to be gained by maintaining the functions and services of these ecosystems and that maintaining healthy wetlands not only contributes to preserving biological diversity, but is essential in future regulation
of the rational use of water.
The Law on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, approved in December 2007, takes on these challenges, since some of its inspiring principles are directly applicable to wetlands and their components, as a fundamental part of Spain’s natural heritage. Likewise, the regulations include specific obligations in relation to wetlands, such as the necessary reference to their inventory and to the
planning of conservation guidelines.
Precisely, on the way to achieving an adequate degree of knowledge about its importance and conservation and also to reconciling the recommendations arising from the European Water and Habitats Directives, is the CEHUM. This Centre will promote specific policies and active conservation programmes, both nationally and internationally.
The event was also attended by the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain dependent on the MARM, Ana Leiva; the representative of the RAMSAR Convention,
Delmar Blasco; the rector of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Juan Juliá; the rector of the University of Valencia, Francisco Tomás, and the mayor of Gandia, José Manuel Orengo and the Government Delegate in the Valencian Community, Ricardo Peralta.
Watch the video of the event.
