The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, attended today, in Zaragoza, the presentation of the report “Water and sustainability: Functionality of basins”, prepared by the Observatory of Sustainability in Spain (OSE).

The presentation of this report, which took place within the framework of EXPO Zaragoza 2008, was attended by the executive director of the Sustainability Observatory of Spain, Luis Jiménez Herrero, the director of the Water Tribune of Expo Zaragoza 2008, Eduardo Mestre, the general director of Water of the Ministry of the Environment, and Rural and Marine Affairs, Marta Morén, and the general director of Operations and Contents of Expo Zaragoza 2008, Jerónimo Blasco.

This report aims, with an integrative approach, to support the sustainability of the resource and the water heritage in general beyond mere efficient management, in line with the message of the “new water culture”, introducing the concept of basin functionality as a key element for their recovery, management and operational maintenance in this climate change scenario.

“Water and sustainability: Functionality of basins” is presented as an instrument for analysing water management in Spain and a methodological approach to basins, taking as an example three representative pilot basins (the Segura, the Jalón and the internal basins of Catalonia).

The Observatory of Sustainability in Spain was created in 2005, promoted by the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, the Biodiversity Foundation and the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá de Henares. It was born as an independent body of the Government, the result of the commitment to achieve a sustainable development model that takes into account economic and territorial aspects, environmental improvement and social justice, and that guarantees the conservation of our natural heritage and an improvement in the quality of life of citizens.

The SBI allows our country to be provided with a body that carries out independently, rigorously, credibly and autonomously the work of compiling environmental, economic and social information, as well as research and preparation of a series of reports on sustainable development in Spain that are disseminated to society as a whole. In fact, the report presented today is part of the line of thematic reports that the Observatory periodically publishes. In the previous two, uses were analysed in soil changes and air quality. Likewise, since its creation, this body has been presenting successive reports on the situation of the environment in Spain every year.

The Biodiversity Foundation has participated in different initiatives during the celebration of Expo Zaragoza 2008. Thus, the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, participated in the inauguration of Thematic Week 7 “Water Economy and Finance: Water Markets and Financial Solutions for Emerging Countries”.

The Thematic Week, organised by the Biodiversity Foundation and the Water Tribune, was one of the ten weekly sessions of debates on the most pressing problems around the axis of Expo Zaragoza “Water and Sustainable Development”. It involved experts and water managers from around the world and presented solutions. In addition, consensus processes were developed with the aim of disseminating knowledge and generating documents with specific proposals. More than 200 experts and nearly 40 speakers and panelists from different countries – including Australia, Canada, the United States, Chile, Mexico, Israel and India – analyzed multiple experiences in water transactions.

Likewise, the Biodiversity Foundation has collaborated with the New Culture of Water Foundation in the exhibition “Water, rivers and peoples: tribute to those who fight to defend rivers and their people”. This photographic exhibition is on display at the Pavilion of Citizen Initiatives, El Faro, until September 14. Its objective is to raise awareness among visitors about the water problem, directly showing experiences of those affected by hydraulic policies. Likewise, this exhibition aims to make citizens see that active struggle can influence decisions on hydraulic policy and even avoid destructive projects, as well as to encourage social participation and public debate in this type of policy.