- The Vice-President of the Government of Spain has agreed with the Andalusian President Moreno Bonilla the first bilateral meeting to follow up on the Doñana Agreement
- It has informed the Junta de Andalucía of the actions of the MITECO Framework of Actions for Doñana that reach a 40% degree of execution
- The call for applications and regulatory bases of the two agricultural aid plans for innovative projects for environmental improvement and for the renaturalisation of agricultural areas have been published today
The Vice-President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, met this Saturday with the President of the Junta de Andalucía, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, to share the update of the Doñana Framework for Actions. During the press conference after the meeting, he announced the convening of the first Dialogue Forum: “In this meeting with the Board we have agreed that we are going to work from January with the convening of a Dialogue Forum in which ministers and the Ministry’s team will be able to give continuity to something that continues to grow to fulfill the commitment to Doñana”. Aagesen highlighted the high level of implementation of the Framework of Actions: “We have 706 million of commitment, with 40% mobilised” and announced the publication of the progress reports, before adding that “we address the problems from the source, from the territory, prioritising nature-based solutions, with a framework of governance, collaboration and institutional support and with all the sectors involved”. The Vice-President highlighted three elements of the Framework: innovative solutions based on science and the legal framework, dialogue and commitment of the teams, and guaranteed the support of the Government: “At the moment we have put the budget that we understood was necessary, but we will be willing to put on the table the budget that is necessary to ensure that Doñana returns to the life it has to have, and also with the commitment to the territory”, stressed the vice-president.
REGULATORY BASES FOR RENATURATION
At the meeting, the vice-president has transferred the information related to the public information of the order of regulatory bases for aid for the renaturalization of agricultural areas and aid for environmental improvement in the agricultural and forestry field, which she announced yesterday during her visit to the National Park. Endowed with a budget of 39.5 million euros, these lines of support are framed in lines 1, 2 and 3 of the Doñana Socioeconomic Framework. The proposal for the order of regulatory bases for the granting of aid for the renaturation of agricultural areas can be consulted here. At the national level, it will take the form of specific calls for Doñana; This first call has an economic endowment of 28 million. In the following years, new calls will be made, incorporating the necessary adjustments for the greater effectiveness of the aid. In addition, the lines of aid for maintenance and conversion to rainfed and organic production, provided for in the Framework of Actions, will be developed. On the other hand, the first call for innovative projects for environmental improvement in the agricultural and forestry field includes 11.5 million. Beneficiaries will be entities representing the agricultural, forestry and other sectors, as well as scientific, third sector, or public administration entities, with projects that can also be presented by groups of entities, with grants of between 300,000 euros and two million. The general purpose of these grants for the Doñana environment is to promote sustainable practices and contribute to territorial development from a just transition approach, through economic reconversion and diversification that alleviates water pressure, key to the recovery of the ecosystem.
MONITORING REPORTS FOR ALL PROJECTS
The vice-president also announced the publication of the monitoring reports prepared by the Doñana Technical Office, where the situation as of December 2024 of all projects is updated. This is an accountability that the coordinating office in the territory of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) carries out quarterly to keep citizens and sectors involved informed of the degree of execution of the Doñana Framework of Actions. The environmental report can be consulted at this link and the socioeconomic report at this link. MITECO materialises its present and future commitment to Doñana through two complementary lines. On the one hand, the Environmental Framework for Doñana, endowed with a budget of 356 million from 2022. This initiative was joined in 2023 by the Socioeconomic Framework, focused on social and economic actions, with a state investment of 350 million. In total, it is 706 million, of which 298 million have already been mobilized, either executed or budgetarily committed. In addition to the recovery and restoration of ecosystems, in recent years progress has been made such as the closure of 1,197 illegal wells since 2019, the implementation of remote sensing systems for more efficient water management or the constitution of user communities in La Rocina, Almonte and Marismas. Wastewater treatment has improved in the municipalities around the Park and groundwater extraction has been significantly reduced in the surroundings of Matalascañas and the Agrio reservoir.
VISIT TO THE NATIONAL PARK
Yesterday Vice-President Aagesen visited several projects of the Framework of Actions in the surroundings of the National Park, such as the renaturalisation of the Mimbrales Farm and the research survey for the relief of water pressure in the population centre of Matalascañas. He also visited the Matalascañas dunes in the Doñana National Park together with the Government delegate, Pedro Fernández Peñalver. Subsequently, he held a meeting with 14 mayors of the area and had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the situation of the main municipal projects benefiting from Line 10 of the Socioeconomic Framework, endowed with 70 million to promote actions in the circular economy, water cycle, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, renaturation and improvement of infrastructures. To close the day, he met with representatives of the agricultural, union, educational and environmental sectors, to give accounts and share assessments on the execution of the Framework of Actions for Doñana.
