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ARCHIVED - UN to investigate the deterioration of the Mar Menor
The president of the Murcia government blames the condition of the lagoon on society as a whole
The UN has accepted a request from Ecologistas en Acción to investigate the deterioration of the marine environment of the Mar Menor and the lack of protection afforded to it, according to information published this Monday, on the grounds that the 1976 Barcelona Convention may have been contravened or breached.
The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, to give it its full title, was adopted with the intention of preventing pollution from ships, aircraft and land-based sources in the Mediterranean Sea, including (but not limited to) dumping, run-off and discharges. Spain and other signers agreed to cooperate and assist in dealing with pollution emergencies, monitoring and scientific research, and among the Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance the Mar Menor has been one of the nine sites listed in Spain since 2001.
This news assumes special significance in the light of the drastic acceleration of the deterioration in the lagoon since the flooding caused by the worst “gota fría” storm in half a century this September, but it is almost three years since Ecologistas en Acción filed their request with the UN. That process was completed in early 2017, shortly after an episode of eutrophication in 2016 turned the water of the Mar Menor greenish in colour and reduced the transparency considerably.
Julia Martínez of Ecologistas en Acción welcomes the news, explaining that it sets a precedent for non-governmental organizations to spark the UN into action, while also expressing the hope that by raising international awareness of the situation in the lagoon more pressure can be brought to bear on the governments of Spain and Murcia to take action. It is interesting to note that in June of this year it was reported by Dr Orr Karassin of the Barcelona Convention Enforcement Committee that “the regional government of Murcia seems reticent in implementing the actions needed to protect the area of the Mar Menor”.
At the same time Onda Cero report that the UN assessment of Ecologistas en Acción’s report concludes that “the continual contamination and consequent eutrophication of the Mar Menor have reached a critical point” and that “substantial and immediate action is required to improve the situation”.
Meanwhile, statements made by Fernando López Miras, the president of the regional government, have caused some eyebrows to be raised. Comenting on the Mar Menor on Monday Sr López Miras asserted that “there is not sufficient information” to blame the agricultural sector for the deterioration in water quality, advancing the opinion instead that the fault lies with “society as a whole over the last 60 years” due to various kinds of pressure, not only agricultural but also related to urban development.
The president also repeated his call for the national government and the CHS water infrastructures administration body to take responsibility and implement actions to protect the lagoon, comments which provoked a strong backlash on social media sites. Some observers point to the “Law of Urgent Measures to Protect the Mar Menor”, which was passed in the regional parliament in February 2018 and which clearly stated that it was the responsibility of the regional government to eliminate undesirable agricultural practices from the Campo de Cartagena and to close down agricultural concerns in areas where farming is not permitted – runoff water from crop fields containing fertilizers is widely accepted to be the principal factor behind the damage done to the lagoon.
The same observers lament the fact that unfortunately images clearly showing failures to implement contour ploughing and the use of irrigation farming in areas where it is not permitted continue to be made public on an almost daily basis. While the CHS is responsible for alterations to ramblas, water courses and aquifers, this is not the case in crop fields, according to the government’s own legislation.
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