Santiago de Compostela, April 14 (EFE).- The organization Ecologistas en Acción has filed an appeal to request the inclusion in the Inventory of Galician wetlands of more than 700 wetlands that were not included in the last update last March .
According to the association, through a press release, hundreds of wetlands, such as peat bogs, brañas and lagoons, were left out of this registry “for no apparent reason”, since the Institute of Agrarian Biodiversity and Rural Development (IBADER) itself has more than 1,100 wetlands have been inventoried.
Therefore, he has submitted an appeal for the review of the resolution of the General Directorate of Natural Heritage of the Xunta regarding the Galician inventory.
The Galician federation of Ecologists in Action recalls that it launched the ‘Wetlands for Life’ campaign in 2022, to raise awareness of the ecosystem importance of wetlands, which included field work mapping unregistered wetlands.
The first part of this report, referring to the province of A Coruña, was delivered to the Ministry of the Environment but most of the mapped wetlands were not registered by the Xunta, says the environmental association.
Thus, “wetlands as relevant as the Torreiro peat bogs or the Braña da Serra (Santa Comba/Coristanco) which is the largest Atlantic heath in Galicia, were left off the record,” explains Roberto Vilela, coordinator of the campaign.
From Ecologistas en Acción they emphasize that wetlands are essential due to the innumerable benefits or “ecosystem services” they provide to humanity, despite the fact that their surface area and quality continue to decrease year after year in most regions of the world.
The organization warns that the loss and degradation of wetlands translates into a huge social and economic impact, such as increased risk of flooding, reduced water quality, as well as impacts on health, cultural identity and livelihoods.
For this reason, Vilela insists that “it is essential to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity and water resources such as wetlands, and proceed to restore the ecological functions and ecosystem services of those that were degraded by anthropic actions such as forest plantations, agriculture intensive, installation of wind farms or exploitation of mines”.
The Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG) published on March 13 the resolution of the Ministry of the Environment by which 400 new wetlands were included in the inventory throughout Galicia, totaling more than 43,000 hectares.
The province of A Coruña, is home to 116 of the 400 wetlands (and a total of 215 elements) that were incorporated into the Galician registry and stands out for being especially rich in this type of ecosystem, according to the Xunta on the occasion of this inventory update. .
The list was completed by the 101 wetlands in the province of Lugo (196 elements); the 108 wetlands of Ourense (with 149), and the 101 belonging to Pontevedra (162 elements).