Restoration of the Marismas de Trebujena
The scale of the project can be appreciated from this GoogleEarth image I wrote about the exciting development of a major reserve due to open this year (2024) on restored marismas in a previous post (More cheers for Trebujena! (weebly.com)) so I was keen to see what progress had been made with this ambitious project. Looking at GoogleEarth images (see above), I already knew that major earthworks had already been undertaken but there's no thing like seeing things for yourself to get a feel for what's going on.
Although I had seen the plans and the GoogleEarth view, I was not prepared for the sheer scale and ambition that was apparent 'on the ground'. The reserve will be vast. My photos are entirely inadequate to the task but I hope that they give some sort of useful impression. The exposed earth is still in a raw state without vegetation as too are the pools but the potential is extraordinary even though I couldn't see the southernmost pools (Lucios ES 3 & ES 4 and Lucios GH 5, 6 & 7 on map below). Several bridges connecting the islands have already been built and, hopefully, the two viewing towers I could see will be supplemented by hides elsewhere. It will take time for things to 'bed down' but it should be a stunning place to visit in spring 2025 - I can't wait!
Properly managed - and there's the rub - for both birds and birdwatchers, it will become a mecca for visiting ornithological tourists. Similar reserves on Majorca (and elsewhere in Spain) are managed well for both wildlife and visitors but in my experience Andalucia doesn't have a great track record in this respect, The excellent visitors' centre with an interesting botanical garden near Alcala de los Gazules, for example, has been closed for years (although the buildings have been repainted indicating this may change). Closer to home, the small reserve nearby (where the road turns along the river) seems to be permanently closed but thankfully can be viewed from the road. (I suspect it's role is educational but the new reserve is surely too large for that to be the sole aim). Decent management and access will mean on-going funding to employ a workforce after EU grants have expired Without this investment, due to the huge scale of this new venture, there will be only limited options to do so along the road beside the Guadalquivir.
In short, if well managed this reserve threatens to shift the understandable (but limiting) ornithological ' centre of gravity' away from Tarifa towards the north of the province. Hopefully, the progressive local council in Trebujena will grasp this opportunity whilst visiting birders will repay them by spending money locally!
In short, if well managed this reserve threatens to shift the understandable (but limiting) ornithological ' centre of gravity' away from Tarifa towards the north of the province. Hopefully, the progressive local council in Trebujena will grasp this opportunity whilst visiting birders will repay them by spending money locally!
This small reserve nearby with hides, information boards, etc seems permanently closed to visitors.
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