Editing Doñana National Park (section)

===Conservation===
[[File:El Acebuche 03.jpg|thumb|View of Doñana National Park from visitors' centre at ''El Acebuche'' ([[Almonte, Spain|Almonte]])<ref name="Centro El Acebuche">{{Cite web |title=Centro de Visitantes El Acebuche |url=https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/portal/web/ventanadelvisitante/detalle-buscador-mapa/-/asset_publisher/Jlbxh2qB3NwR/content/el-acebuche/255035}}</ref>]]
The Spanish businessman [[Mauricio González-Gordon y Díez]], Marquis of Bonanza, whose family owned a large estate in Doñana, became interested in its ecosystems and their birdlife, and invited ornithologists from all over Europe to visit. In 1952, the Spanish ornithologists [[José Antonio Valverde]] and [[Francisco Bernis]] visited the property, with González-Gordon serving as their guide. Valverde and the González-Gordon family saw that the wetlands, with their richly diverse wildlife, were threatened by the Spanish government's proposals to drain them for farming and the planting of eucalyptus trees. Mauricio, together with his father, asked Bernis to try and influence Spanish dictator [[Francisco Franco]] into abandoning the plans.<ref name="SEO">{{Cite web |date=2 October 2013 |title=Co-founder of SEO/BirdLife and saviour of Doñana dies aged 89 |url=http://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/news/co-founder-seobirdlife-and-saviour-do%C3%B1ana-dies-aged-89 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184754/http://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/news/co-founder-seobirdlife-and-saviour-do%C3%B1ana-dies-aged-89 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |access-date=25 October 2013 |publisher=BirdLife}}</ref> The trio wrote a memorandum which was presented to Franco himself by Mauricio's father Manuel.<ref name="González2012">{{Cite book |last=Luis Mariano González |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qap5axpOZ-4C&pg=PA133 |title=El águila imperial ibérica: el resurgir de una especie amenazada |publisher=Fundacion BBVA |year=2012 |isbn=978-84-92937-38-7 |pages=133–}}</ref> By November 1953 Bernis had finished a report on the status of the Doñana which showed that the area had exceptional ecological value. The group sought and obtained international support for their goals. The efforts of González-Gordon to dissuade Franco exposed him to some danger, but the Franco government conceded and the drainage plans were aborted.<ref name=SEO/>

Valverde led the first organised scientific expedition to the Donana in 1957, joined by the British naturalists [[Guy Mountfort]], [[Roger Tory Peterson]], and Sir [[Julian Huxley]]. A group of European conservation experts – including Guy Mountfort, [[Edward Max Nicholson|Max Nicholson]] and [[Luc Hoffmann]] –then demonstrated the crucial importance of the area as a stopover for birds migrating between the European and African continents. In 1959, the Gonzalez family sold part of their land in Doñana for development of the [[Matalascañas]] resort. This alarmed European conservationists, leading various institutions and anonymous donors to offer to buy part of the property. Valverde, Hoffman, and Nicholson, in partnership with the British Nature Conservancy, formed an association that organised an international drive for funds to expand the park. The campaign raised two million Swiss Francs to buy 7,000 hectares of land for annexation to that already donated by González-Gordon.<ref name="Nash2005">{{Cite book |last=Elizabeth Nash |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GC-Nu86-9LcC&pg=PA167 |title=Seville, Cordoba, and Granada : A Cultural History: A Cultural History |date=16 September 2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-972537-3 |page=167}}</ref> Finally, in 1963 the Spanish government and WWF bought part of the territory and created the first Doñana preserve, and in 1964 they established the Doñana Biological Station and the [[Spanish National Research Council]] (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - CSIC) to study the biodiversity of Doñana and other Spanish ecosystems.

[[File:El Porrón.jpg|thumb|El Porrón observatory ([[Almonte, Spain|Almonte]])<ref name="Observatorio El Porrón">{{Cite web |title=El Porrón Observatory |url=https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/portal/web/ventanadelvisitante/detalle-buscador-mapa/-/asset_publisher/Jlbxh2qB3NwR/content/porrÓn/255035}}</ref>]]
In 1969, the WWF again joined forces with the Spanish government to purchase another section of the Guadalquivir Delta marshes and establish the Doñana National Park.
That same year the Doñana National Park was created by decree, part of whose territory was owned by the [[Ministry of Economy and Finance (Spain)|Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness]] (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) and part still in private hands. Ten years later the protected area was expanded and the so-called "Preparque Doñana" was created. In 1980, UNESCO recognised the Doñana National Park as a Biosphere Reserve of 77,260 hectares. The Core Zone consists of 50,720 hectares in the National Park of Doñana.<ref name="Zouwen2006">{{Cite book |last=Mariëlle van der Zouwen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MkBwwiVX5T8C&pg=PA108 |title=Nature Policy Between Trends and Traditions: Dynamics in Nature Policy Arrangements in the Yorkshire Dales, Doñana, and the Veluwe |publisher=Eburon Uitgeverij B.V. |year=2006 |isbn=978-90-5972-097-8 |pages=105–108}}</ref> The buffer zone is 54,250 hectares in the Natural Park of Doñana. The altitude ranges from sea level to 40 meters above sea level. Unesco considers Doñana of world significance, based on the variety of its ecosystems and the wide number of species they harbor. In 1982 it was included in the list of wetlands of the Ramsar Convention, and in 1989 the [[Regional Government of Andalusia]] converted the Preparque into the Doñana Natural Park. In 1994 it was listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site, enabling the establishment of programs to preserve and manage the area. Historically, these vital wetlands have been constantly threatened by schemes to increase local agricultural output and tourism. WWF still supports the Doñana, and is fighting proposals to drain the marshes and syphon off water for irrigation of agricultural land along the coast and expansion of tourist facilities.

In 1998, the Aznalcóllar Disaster occurred when a holding dam burst at the Los Frailes mine owned by Boliden-Apirsa (formerly Andaluza de Piritas, S.A.), the Spanish subsidiary of [[Boliden AB|Boliden]], releasing a flood of toxic sludge that entered the River Guadiamar, the main water source for the park. In 2000, after this major environmental catastrophe, the Spanish [[Ministry of Environment (Spain)|Ministry of Environment]] promoted the "Doñana 2005" program, aimed at regenerating the marshes. In 2006 the responsibilities of maintaining the park were transferred to the Government of Andalusia by the Royal Decree of 9 June; the functions and services of the Nature Conservation administration thus transferred to the Andalusian state were widened, and Doñana National Park and the Natural Park became the "Natural area of Doñana", a single territory divided into areas with different levels of environmental protection. In 2008 this park was twinned with the Regional Natural Park Camargue in France, with which it shares anthropological and ethnographic aspects.

During his tenure, the Spanish Prime Minister [[Felipe González]] began using Doñana as a vacation retreat, setting a precedent for his successors. In 2010, 9200 hectares of land on the coastline were expropriated by the former [[Ministry of Environment (Spain)|Ministry of the Environment]] for protection.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rafael Méndez |date=30 August 2010 |title=Medio Ambiente expropia y protege 9.200 hectáreas de la costa de Doñana |url=http://elpais.com/diario/2010/08/30/sociedad/1283119202_850215.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217020332/http://elpais.com/diario/2010/08/30/sociedad/1283119202_850215.html |archive-date=December 17, 2013 |access-date=6 April 2014 |work=El País}}</ref> In July 2012, Unesco approved the extension of the Biosphere Reserve of Doñana from 77,260 hectares to over 255,000 hectares and enabled compliance with the guidelines of the Man and Biosphere Program. This created a transition zone where the socio-economic interests of the various municipalities in the Doñana region are represented. In 2019, the police closed tens of illegal wells operated largely by fruit farmers around the park which had for many years been draining water away from the park's water table. In the same year, the EU commission decided to take Spain to the [[European Court of Justice]] (EJC) for violating EU conservation rules.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 December 2020 |title=Water News Europe |url=waternewseurope.com/spain-taken-to-court-for-over-abstraction-aquifers-coto-donana/ |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=Water News Europe}}</ref> The court ruled in favor of the EU commission, stating that Spain has not fulfilled its obligations concerning the prevention of illegal water extraction as well as failed to take necessary measures to stop significant modifications of the park's landscape.<ref name="Jones">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Sam |date=5 September 2022 |title=Over-consumption and drought reduce lake in vital Spanish wetland to puddle |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/05/santa-olalla-lake-dries-up-in-vital-spanish-wetland-blamed-on-overexploitation |access-date=4 May 2024 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
In 2023 the [[Junta de Andalucia]] sought to approve some of the illegal strawberry cultivation taking place near the park, but was blocked by the central government. The Junta made an effort to mitigate damage to the national park by the acquisition of 7,000 ha of an estate called [[Veta La Palma|Veta la Palma]]. This property includes lagoons which had been used for a failed fishing farming enterprise within the natural park and which at the time of purchase were seen as a potential extension to the national park.<ref name="Sur">{{Cite news |last=Barbotta |date=2024 |title=Moreno presenta la adquisición de Veta la Palma como garantía de la supervivencia de Doñana |url=https://www.diariosur.es/andalucia/moreno-presenta-adquisicion-veta-palma-garantia-supervivencia-20240424203126-nt.html |access-date=4 May 2024 |work=Diario Sur |language=Spanish}}</ref><ref name="Pais">{{Cite news |date=2023 |title=La Junta andaluza compra 7.500 hectáreas para que las aves permanezcan en Doñana |url=https://elpais.com/clima-y-medio-ambiente/2023-09-12/la-junta-andaluza-compra-7500-hectareas-para-que-las-aves-permanezcan-en-donana.html |work=El País}}</ref>

In January 2024 the bird count was the lowest on record, reflecting low water levels in the National Park.