SCIENCE ACROSS THE WORLD: BIODIVERSITY AROUND US
THE BIODIVERSITY OF El SALER
PART 2
SOME REPRESENTATIVE PLANTS AND ANIMALS FROM THE SALER
We want to show you two species we saw in our visit to El Saler and we have chosen as a representative species of this area. One of them is a very known plant which had human use.The other is a strange and beautiful caterpillar that only lives and nourrishes in a sand dune plant:
An iconic plant from "El Saler" is Chamaerops humilis commonly known as Mediterranean fan palm or “margalló” . A more complete description of this plant can be read in the Wikipedia
The fan palm is a plant that likes sunny areas and does not resist cold temperatures, although it can resist the strong coastal winds and the salinity. We can find it in coastal zones of the West Mediterranean and is one of the most representative plant of our vegetation.
The fan palm is a plant that has been used by the population through the centuries. The heart or inner part is tender and edible. People use especially the leaves to make baskets or brooms (as seen in the right photo).
Nowadays it is a protected species and people can not make use anymore.
Caterpillars of Brithys crini
Brithys crini is a moth belonging to the family of the Noctuidae family. It appears locally in southern Europe, particularly along the Mediterranean coast. We could see this very beautiful caterpillar in our visit. Its maximum length is about five cm, has a black body with broad white bands, reddish-brown legs and a black head with red dots. This caterpillar lives only in a plant which lives in the sand dunes. This plant is Pancratium maritimum or "sea lily" .
HOW HAS CHANGED THIS NATURAL AREA IN THE LAST YEARS?
The older people in our community (grand parents, relatives, teachers...) told us that this area had changed a lot in the last 40 years:
The Albufera and its Devesa ("El Saler") belonged since the twelfth century to the Aragon and Spanish kings. That explains why this area has reached the 20th century so little altered. In 1911 it became part of the City Council of Valencia for use and enjoyment of all its citizens.
In the 70's, however, a housing and developing project began, characterized especially by the aggression to the natural environment. A strong human pressure caused the disappearance of nearly all the beach dunes which were replaced it by a coastal promenade made of concrete and steel. The sand that obtained from the dune destruction filled the depressed areas ("mallades") or was used for construction and housing developments (40 buildings over 8 storeys), many Km of roads, large paved areas for parking, water network, etc).
A popular citizen movement was able to paralyze the aggressive development plan under the motto "El Saler for the people." We want to remind you that in this era, Spain was ruled by dictator General Franco, and there were no civil rights as nowadays.
With the entry of the first democratic City Council, El Saler was given is a special protection mas the first protected area of Valencia. Here you have some of the policies were taken:- Some sensitive and degradated areas were closed to pedestrians.
- Road closure in 80% of the area for cars. Visitors were concentrated on designed areas of recreation.
- Educational campaigns, very important fact to raise awareness among visitors, aimed mainly at schoolchildren.
- Regeneration of altered ecosystems, especially the first dunes, to recover the primitive landscape and avoid the abrasive effect of wind on the marine coastal pinewood of the fixed dunes.We have included photographs or drawings to show the differences over time:
"El Saler, 50 years ago: a quiet place.(above)
The Golf course, inside a National park (left). On the right photograph you can see some of the apartments built in the 70's in the heart of the Devesa. On the left you can see the Albufera lake. On the upper-right the Mediterranean sea
We have downloaded a folk song of the 70's to illustrate the aesthetic value of this area and the fight that took place in order to preserve it from devastation. This song was composed and sung by a famous Valencian folk group, AL TALL.
Here there is the song lyrics; we have TRANSLATED it into English with a little help of our teacher. We tried to make you understant its meaning.
Platja de pinada, ja et pots preparar:
una comitiva d'hòmens amb carpetes
se't va aproximant.
Trau més argelagues i tots anirem
a ventar les plagues
que porta el mal vent.
Platja de pinada, ja pots tremolar,
sent els grans discursos que està dedicant-te
la gent important.
Trau més argelagues ..........
Platja de pinada, posa't a plorar,
els grans empresaris i les constructores
ja varen firmar.
Trau més argelagues ..........
Platja de pinada, no els deixes entrar,
un convoi de màquines i d'asfaltadores
ix de la ciutat.
Trau més argelagues ..........
Platja de pinada, ja et pots preparar:
ets massa bonica perquè gent de poble
vinga a berenar.
Trau més argelagues ..........
Platja de pinada, et volen furtar,
t'hi posen un hipòdrom, camp de golf i tenis,
per qui ho pot pagar.
Trau més argelagues ..........
Platja de pinada, et volen furtar,
ja estàs mal ferida i ben encordada
per vetes d'asfalt.
Trau més argelagues ..........
Platja de pinada, et volen furtar
, t'ofeguen amb finques i pisos de luxe
i grans restaurants.
Trau més argelagues ..........
Terres i aigües nostres, el poble ho sap bé
no entraran pirates amb mans enguantades
a fer saqueig.
Pinewood, beware! Be ready.
A bunch of burocrats
are coming closer
Bring more dry bushes
We’ll come together to make a bonfire
to make this plague away
Pinewood, tremble with fear
listen to the speech that these "important people"
are now dedicating to you
Bring more dry bushes......
Pinewood, begin crying
big businessmen and real state companies
have already signed
Bring more dry bushes......
Pinewood, don't let enter those machines
coming from the city.
Bring more dry bushes......
Pinewood, be ready:
you are too beautiful to let ordinary citizens
come to have lunch
Bring more dry bushes......
Pinewood, they want to rob you
to build a hippodrome, golf and tennis courts,
only for people who can afford it
Bring more dry bushes......
Pinewood, they want to destroy you
you're already very badly injured
and tied by asphalt veins.
Bring more dry bushes......
Pine forest, they want to destroy you
they want to build estates with luxury apartments
and great restaurants.
Bring more dry bushes......
These are our lands and waters, people know it well
Those pirates with gloved hands
do not enter to steal our forest
We would like you to listen to the song from this web:
Part 2: Why Biodiversity is important to us
We have chosen the following words to describe our area:
The visited area known as El Saler, suggested to us the following sensations:
HARMONY: It was a harmonious, balanced pleasant and enjoyable place.The pine forest was also majestic.
MOVEMENT: This is an alive area because there were some animals, vegetation but in the meantime it was calm because there was no noise which altered the nature. Plants and animals do not suffer any stress, as have their own rhythm. We were the only "intruders".
NATURE: It's wild area because of the animals that live in freedom, and the vegetation which grows freely.
COLOUR: It was a remarkable place because there are many different colors like light green, dark brown, different shades of colors. There was an important change in color from the green of the pone forest and the more monotonous color of the "mallada" and sand dunes.
SOUND: It was very pleasant to hear the sound of nature. The sound was very relaxing because there was no car noise and as we visited it on a workday we found very few people.The sound was also very relaxing in the dunes, we could hear the sound of the waves.
SECURITY: El Saler is a safe place where animals and plants can live outside of human action.
BEAUTY: El Saler is an attractive, beautiful, majestic place, with a rich vegetation and it is a pleasure to contemplate it.
Biodiversity and culture
This is an illustration of an animal used as a symbol in our city and also the Valencian country
The bat is the totemic icon of our city. This animal is used in lots of Valencian symbols. It is in the city's coat of arms and it appears in football clubs, falles (festival associations), cultural organisms of our city:
Bats dominate the city symbology and it is present everywhere. We tried to ask many people about the reason why, but surprisingly no one knew the reason why. We asked our teacher and he explained us some beautiful stories:
These bats still live in the Saler and the irrigated farmland areas (known here as "Horta") near the city. There are many legends that relate that animal with the conquest of the city in the 13th century, then in hands of the Muslims, for the king of Aragon, James I. One of those legends says that one night a bat stopped on top of the king's tent and warned him about an imminent attack of the sieged Arabs. Another related legend suggested that whilst the bat could fly, the city of Valencia would remain in hands of the Muslims. At night, one bat came off fascinated by the winged dragon that crowned the helmet of the king, so he could hunt it and, the day after, the king James I conquered the city. This winged dragon of the king's helmet, symbol used in old times, evolved to a bat.
The bat is also the totemic icon of our city's main football team, Valencia F.C. Here you have an advertisment about it.
See also (more information: bats and heraldry)
Part 3: Factors affecting biodiversity today
1. This is a list of plants and animals that are common but not native to our country. We have indicated how these species have arrived and whether or not they are beneficial:
The American red crab (Procambarus clarkii)
This is a crab who lives in fresh waters. Its size reaches 10 cm from head to tail. Its color is between red and bluish gray. Its diet is omnivorous, exhibiting a very wide variety of food. It is not natural from this area. It was introduced by fishermen in 1974. It presents a huge ecological impact In the Iberian Peninsula because it competes with the autocton river crab, the crayfish. The red crab began to grow rapidly and had a dramatic effect on the community because of its voracity. Once entered it can produce changes in the ecological network. and to eliminate the trophic resources (ie food) in influencing the productivity of home zones In addition, this species is the carrier of aphanomicosi, an infectious disease caused by fungus Aphanomices astaci that is lethal to native crayfish. Their influence on the harvest of rice in the Albufera has negative effects, reducing their productivity. Its eradication is very difficult because it has high productivity. It is considered as a "plague".
The Cape Fig (Carpobrotus edulis)
Place or origin:South Africa
Possible method of arrival: It’s used in gardening so it is possible that it has moved to the dunes
Beneficial: It's a beautiful and resistant plant and it has a great ability to quickly cover the available surface with very little water
Not beneficial: It has naturalized and has converted into an invasive plant that has colonized the dunar littoral displacing the local flora.
Part 4: Addressing the issue
We think that it very useful and important to have laws to control and keep our biodiversity. Some of these laws are:
Law 89/1986, of July 8, Creation the Albufera National Park, including the lake, the surrounding wetlands and The "Devesa de El Saler".This is an example of a law in our country to protect biodiversity: The present law has for object the conservation of the biological diversity, regulating the protection and the sustainable use of the biological resources, in general, and in particular the integral management of the resources of wild life, biologics and genetic.
Law 96/1995 of May 16, approved the Plan of Management of Natural Resources.Objectives:
- a) Preserve the integrity of the natural patrimony of the State and of the ecological essential processes, of those that depends the survival of the species and the ecosystems, considered in an integral way.
- b) Establish the sustainable use of the biological national patrimony and of the cultural patrimony associated to the same one, to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the population's life.
- c) Impel a fair and equal distribution of the benefits obtained by the sustainable use of the natural renewable resouces
In addition to its declaration as National Park by Valencia, the Albufera has been included as an area of special protection within the EU and internationally. Since April 1991 is a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPAs) under the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) and it is included since May 1990 on the List of Wetlands of International Importance of the Ramsar Convention.
Those laws were made by an international government agreement, Spanish government and regional and local Valencian governments
We have produced a Biodiversity Action Plan for El Saler area.
Here is a brief description of our plan:
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