White smoke of a fire underground is seen in the national park of Las Tablas de Daimiel, in Ciudad Real on November 16, 2009. The European Union launched an investigation into Spanish wetland that has turned bone dry through mismanagement of water resources from areas where fish once swam. The EU wants the Spanish government to explain how it plans to save Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park.The park, one of Spain's few wetlands, is classified as a UNESCO biosphere site and an EU-protected...
more »White smoke of a fire underground is seen in the national park of Las Tablas de Daimiel, in Ciudad Real on November 16, 2009. The European Union launched an investigation into Spanish wetland that has turned bone dry through mismanagement of water resources from areas where fish once swam. The EU wants the Spanish government to explain how it plans to save Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park.The park, one of Spain's few wetlands, is classified as a UNESCO biosphere site and an EU-protected area because of its birdlife. But it has been drying up for decades, largely because of wells dug by farmers on the edges of the park to tap an aquifer that feeds the wetland's lagoons. Many of the wells are illegal. Environmentalists call this case a particularly glaring example of how a natural resource can be abused. (c)Pedro ARMESTRE
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