El Hondo by Malcolm Palmer

posted in: News | 0

hondo4More information from Malcolm – There have been rumours about all sorts of future fates that may befall our wetlands. Regarding El Hondo, the owners, as many should know, are an irrigation company, Riegos de Levante, whose business it is to sell water for agriculture. It is, therefore, in their interests to keep the water as pure as possible. To this end, they have promulgated the plan to drain one of the feeder channels, but the real problem is that the Embalse de Levante (the eastern lagoon) is full of nasty chemicals, including residues of lead shot left over from before this was banned. When water levels fall, this becomes concentrated, and much wildlife is affected.

People should understand that the company derives considerable financial gain from flogging hunting rights, though hunting is pretty well restricted as to dates. The Medio Ambiente has put money in too, but all our efforts to get them to charge entrance fees for birders, set up a giftshop/coffee shop/proper info centre fall upon deaf ears. The best thing anyone can do is to join AHSA, the only effective local pressure group, for which Sergio Arroyo is a tireless worker, and is always ‘in the loop.’ If you go to Amigos de los Humedales del sur de Alicante and click on ‘hacertesocio’ or click the union flag to read the website in English. You can help!