UNESCO demands urgent action to protect Doñana

This week, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee expressed serious concerns about the continued conservation issues and the steady decline in wintering waterbird populations in Doñana National Park, Spain.

The Committee currently holds its 47th meeting from 6 to 16 July 2025 at its headquarters in Paris, France. During this meeting, UNESCO typically announces the addition of new sites to the World Heritage List, while also proposing conservation and management actions, particularly for sites that are threatened.

The meeting is underpinned by the new report on “the state of conservation of properties inscribed in the world heritage list,” which outlines a detailed analysis of the serious conservation problems that Doñana National Park faces.

One of the most critical concerns is the over-exploitation of groundwater in Doñana, coupled with the lack of progress in hydrological restoration. While UNESCO acknowledges that technical difficulties can delay progress, they also state that the current delay “indicates that it has not been prioritised adequately.” Three out of five groundwater bodies are in poor condition. Adding to the concerns is the plan to reopen a nearby mine, “Mina Los Frailes” in Aznalcollar, which caused a vast ecological disaster in the 1990s.[1]

UNESCO has once again singled out Spain for failing to take the necessary measures to address the deterioration of the natural values of the Doñana National Park,” says Carlos Davila, head of the SEO/BirdLife office in Doñana. “The effects of climate change and the poor qualitative and quantitative state of the water bodies, due to agricultural intensification in the surroundings of the protected area, have plunged this World Heritage Site into a biodiversity crisis that affects the waterfowl populations of Europe. Doñana cannot wait any longer. It is approaching a point of no return, and the resilience of the ecosystems is compromised.

Doñanahas been on the World Heritage List since 1994. The list includes 1,223 sites from over 168 countries, but almost 5% of these are categorised as endangered by the Committee.

Our Partner in Spain, SEO/BirdLife has been campaigning alongside other environmental groups to stop the destructive plans of the Andalucian government in the past to protect the magical wetland. Especially the illegal wells were in focus, of which 296 have been sealed since 2024. However, there is only slow progress, and many of the Committee’s earlier recommendations have yet to be fully implemented.

UNESCO has given the Spanish government a slap on the hand and asked for genuine efforts to protect this precious wetland and its inhabitants. Now, the government needs to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of Doñana by February 2026. The report must include progress on a targeted conservation strategy to reverse the declining trend in waterbird populations and the implementation of actions previously proposed by the Committee.

If Spain fails to take decisive action and the ecological decline continues, Doñana risks being added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger. This would significantly damage Spain’s international environmental reputation, but it would also mean that we are one step closer to losing a breathtaking home to migratory and water birds.

_{[1] The mine caused an ecological disaster in 1998 when a dam broke and released a mixture of lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, and sulphides to intoxicate the region and left a trace of destruction to wildlife and nature in the nature reserve. Andalucia has been impacted by this disaster for decades and remains of the metals can still be found in the soil today.}

Cover image by Pau Buera