From a crusade to save a dying lagoon by securing it the legal rights of a person, to building tree houses to lure back the bat population, environmental activists in Spain are doing what it takes to protect their local waterways from pollution and loss of biodiversity.
Europe’s biggest saltwater lagoon, the Mar Menor in Spain, is being slowly poisoned by pollution from intensive agriculture and livestock farming, old mines and rampant tourist infrastructure and development. Yet the irony is, it is - on paper - protected by numerous environmental laws. Five years ago, local lawyer, professor and activist Teresa Vicente became convinced the only way to properly protect the Mar Menor was to secure it the legal status of a person.
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Details
- Publication date
- 4 July 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Environment
