SECRETARÍA GENERAL DE MEDIO AMBIENTE MINISTERIO DE MEDIO AMBIENTE DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE CONSERVACIÓN DE LA NATURALEZA CONTENTS CONTENTS 2 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES 4 INTRODUCTION 5 1. BASIC OBJECTIVES 8 2. GUIDING PRINCIPLES 9 PART ONE. BREAKDOWN OF THE CURRENT SITUATION 13 1. THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 14 1.1 GENERAL FEATURES OF SPANISH GEOMORPHOLOGY 14 1.2 CLIMATE, RELIEF AND SOIL: THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE 16 1.3 THE COASTAL AND MARINE ENVIRONMENT 18 1.4 BIOGEOGRAPHIC REGIONS AND BIOCLIMATIC STOREYS 19 2. BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY: COMPONENTS AND CONSERVATION STATUS 21 2.1 NATURAL HABITATS 22 2.1.1 THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT 22 2.1.2 THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT 26 2.2 WILD SPECIES 27 2.2.1 TERRESTRIAL AND FRESHWATER SPECIES 27 2.2.2 MARINE SPECIES 33 2.3 GENETIC RESOURCES 36 2.3.1 CULTIVATED PLANTS 37 2.3.2 LIVESTOCK BREEDS 39 2.3.3 MICRO-ORGANISMS 41 2.3.4 MODIFIED LIVING ORGANISMS 42 2.3.5 ACCESS TO GENETIC RESOURCES 43 2.3.6 GENETIC RESOURCE PROTECTION SYSTEMS 45 2.4 TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE 46 3. CURRENT STATE OF CONSERVATION INSTRUMENTS 48 3.1 SOCIAL INSTRUMENTS 48 3.2 SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 52 3.3 ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS 58 3.4 INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL INSTRUMENTS 60 4. PROCESSES AFFECTING BIODIVERSITY BY ACTIVITY SECTOR 74 5. PERIODIC UPDATING OF THE BREAKDOWN 78 PART TWO. REGIONAL STRATEGIES, SECTOR PLANS, GUIDELINES AND MEASURES 79 1. INTRODUCTION 80 2. SECTOR PLANS AND SECTOR PLAN GUIDELINES 81 2.1 SECTOR PLANS 81 2.2 SECTOR PLAN GUIDELINES 83 2.3 OPERATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLANS 87 2 CONTENTS 3. MEASURES 89 3.1 NATURAL RESOURCE AND LAND PLANNING 89 3.2 IN-SITU CONSERVATION 90 3.2.1 PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS AND OTHER MUNICIPAL AND PRIVATE AREAS 90 3.2.2 CONSERVATION OUTSIDE NATURAL AREAS 93 3.2.3 SPECIES CONSERVATION 94 3.2.4 HABITAT CONSERVATION 97 3.2.5 WETLANDS 97 3.2.6 THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT 97 3.2.7 MODIFIED LIVING ORGANISMS 98 3.3 EX-SITU CONSERVATION 98 3.4 ACCESS TO GENETIC RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGIES. TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE 100 3.5 INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 101 3.6 LEGISLATIVE REFORMS 102 3.7 ECONOMIC REFORMS 103 3.8 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 104 3.9 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC AWARENESS 104 3.10 RESEARCH 106 3.11 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 108 4. BREAKDOWN OF COMPLETION DEADLINES FOR MAIN ACTIONS 110 4.1 TECHNICAL MONITORING UNIT 110 4.2 SECTOR PLANS 110 4.3 STRATEGIES OF THE AUTONOMOUS REGIONS 110 4.4 MAIN MEASURES 110 ANNEXES 111 I AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 112 II FORESTRY. THE SPANISH FORESTRY STRATEGY 114 III FISHING AND AQUACULTURE 116 IV HUNTING AND ANGLING 118 V ENERGY SECTOR 119 VI TOURISM 121 VII INDUSTRY 122 VIII LAND PLANNING AND TOWN PLANNING 123 IX TRANSPORT SECTOR 124 X WATER POLICY 125 XI HEALTH SECTOR 127 XII TRADE SECTOR 128 XIII RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPAIN’S STRATEGY FOR THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIVERSITY 129 XIV COMMUNITY BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY 130 XV THE FUTURE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE CONSERVATION AND RATIONAL USAGE OF BIODIVERSITY 151 XVI THE ECONOMICS UNDERLYING SPAIN’S STRATEGY FOR THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIVERSITY 155 PARTICIPANTS AND ASSOCIATES 157 GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS 160 3 CONTENTS 1 FIGURE 1 SPAIN’S GEOGRAPHICAL STRUCTURE 14 FIGURE 2 BIOGEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS AND BIOCLIMATIC STOREYS 20 FIGURE 3 HUMAN POPULATION DENSITY 21 FIGURE 4 ENDEMIC PLANT SPECIES OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA AND BALEARIC ISLANDS 28 FIGURE 5 THREATENED VERTEBRATES AND VASCULAR PLANTS 30 TABLE 1 SPANISH LANDSCAPE UNITS 17 TABLE 2 BREAKDOWN OF DIRECTIVE 92/43-LISTED HABITATS FOUND IN SPAIN 23 TABLE 3 BREAKDOWN OF THE BIODIVERSITY OF DIRECTIVE 92/43-LISTED HABITATS IN SPAIN 24 TABLE 4 NATURAL STATUS (1,2,3) OF SPANISH HABITATS AS AN INDICATION OF THEIR CON- SERVATION STATUS (LOW, MODERATE, HIGH). HECTARES AND PERCENTAGES SHOWN IN GROUPS OF HABITAT TYPES LISTED IN EU HABITATS DIRECTIVE 92/43/CEE 25 TABLE 5 OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF MARINE AREAS 26 TABLE 6 DIVERSITY OF VASCULAR PLANTS AND VERTEBRATES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 29 TABLE 7 CONSERVATION STATUS OF SPANISH FLORA & FAUNA (IUCN CATEGORIES) 31 TABLE 8 BENTHIC FLORA OF SPANISH COASTS 34 TABLE 9 SALTWATER INVERTEBRATES IN SPANISH WATERS 35 TABLE 10 CULTIVARS OF SPANISH ORIGIN 37 TABLE 11 LIST OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOAT, PIG AND HORSE BREEDS 40 TABLE 12 SEED BANKS 55 TABLE 13 CENTRES FOR FAUNA CONSERVATION AND CAPTIVE BREEDING 56 TABLE 14 RED DATA LISTS PUBLISHED IN SPAIN 57 TABLE 15 PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS (BY REGION) 66 TABLE 16 PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS (BY TYPE OF PROTECTION) 67-68 TABLE 17 SPECIAL PROTECTION AREAS FOR BIRDS 69 TABLE 18 RAMSAR WETLANDS 70 TABLE 19 MAB BIOSPHERE RESERVES 71 TABLE 20 PROTECTED MARINE AREAS 72 TABLE 21 NATIONAL ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST 72 TABLE 22 RECOVERY PLANS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES 73 TABLE 23 PROCESSES THAT MAY HAVE A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION 75-76-77 4 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Biological diversity or biodiversity, taken to mean the variety and variability of wild and domes- tic living organisms along with the ecosystems they are part of (*), has become a predominant concept in conservation due to its all-embracing scope. The concept of biodiversity has arisen from the need to view nature as a whole and to sustain the total sum of its components if the world we are building in it is to be maintained. Two largely conflicting needs arise from this biodiver- sity: its conservation and its use, which are overlapped by a third concept, sustainability, as the only possible way out of the paradox. If human society is to develop, it needs to exploit natural systems, extract their resources and use them. This has always happened, however the present rate is so high that it is threate- ning the very existence of these resources, and in general the elements that make up the natural world. These biological resources are indispensable for humankind, not only because they supply food, medicine and industrial products, but also because they increasingly provide environmental, cultural, social and scientific types of benefits. Thus, nature conservation is not only an ethical obligation but it has also become a necessity for survival. Society is now aware of this situation, and since the start of the 1970s has begun to tackle the problem and acquire a range of legal tools to halt the deterioration by means of a conservation policy for the most seriously endangered components of our natural heritage. The high point of this concept was reached with the ratification of a series of agreements with broad governmental backing, which in turn influenced the passage of conservation legislation in most countries. Although there was some success during this initial stage, the contradiction between conservation and development was ever present, generally resulting in the victory of the latter. A new concept is considered to have begun in the 1980s with the design of the World Conservation Strategy, which proposed the concept of sustained development. The Strategy stres- ses the need for development based on resource exploitation within limits that permit their regen- eration and the absorption of their impact by the ecosystems. The term biodiversity was coined later, and nature ceased to be regarded as a set of isolated components. The institutional response to this new concept was the Convention on Biological Diversity signed at the United Nations Rio de Janeiro Conference on the Environment and Development in 1992. The aim of the Convention is the knowledge and conservation of biodiversity as a whole, i.e. the variety of genetic, species and community life forms, and the preservation of the ecologi- cal processes. In addition to the specific conservation measures to be taken, the rational use of biological resources is proposed as a basic tool, understanding by this that such use by present generations should not diminish their potential usage by our heirs in the future. This implies the acceptance that the conservation of the world’s biological diversity is the common responsibility of humanity, and necessarily involves the adoption of the concept of shared responsibility and the precautionary principle in resource usage as basic criteria. The contradiction between exploitation and conservation is thus resolved conceptually, but sustainable usage would be just another empty term with no real repercussions if it was not put into practice, impregnating every effect of society on nature. For this reason, the agreement itself establishes the need and the obligation for the signatory parties to draft national strategies, plans (*) The Convention on Biological Diversity defines it as ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this inclu- des diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.’ 5 INTRODUCTIÓN and programmes in relation to the objectives, and to include conservation and sustainable usage of biodiversity in their sector and cross-sector plans, and programmes and policies. Spain shares and pursues these objectives, having ratified the Convention on 21 De- cember 1993, thus joining the group of nations that have viewed it as a stimulus to the in- clusion of the principle of biodiversity conservation in their industrial policies. For this pur- pose, and as a response to this obligation, the Spanish Environment Ministry agreed to co-ordinate the development of the present Strategy. This process aims to involve the broadest possible number of interest groups which, given the importance of the objective, should en- compass the whole of society. As a result, a series of sector round table discussions involving national, regional and local governments, scientists and research centres, environmentalist NGO’s and social agents have provided a vast amount of ideas and information that has led to the production of this Strategy.