Nature protection and biodiversity - Drivers and pressures (Spain)

SOER 2010 Common environmental theme (Deprecated)

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SOER Common environmental theme from Spain

Topic: Nature and biodiversity

Published: 26 Nov 2010 Modified: 11 May 2020

The increase in population and economic growth have led to an increase in exploitation of natural resources (soil, water, energy, etc.) and pressures on the environment.

Population growth has also driven up demand for housing and, consequently, increased the amount of built-up and artificial areas at the expense of agricultural and natural areas. Spain's population has risen rapidly in recent years to reach a total of 46,745,807 inhabitants in 2009. Over the period 2000-2009, the population increased by 15.4 %.

The current global economic and financial crisis has had a major impact on the Spanish economy, which has become highly dependent on consumption, international tourism and the construction industry.

Transport and transport infrastructure: This sector has developed enormously in Spain and in 2007 accounted for 5 % of Gross Value Added and employed 700,000 people.

The pressure exerted by terrestrial transport (road and rail) on biodiversity is not restricted solely to pollutant emissions, since transport infrastructure also fragments territories and habitats. Noise is another transport-derived pressure and can reach high and very high levels in and around urban agglomerations and airports. Strategic Noise Maps show that a total of 8,130,800 people living in large urban conurbations were affected by noise from road and rail traffic, airports and industrial facilities. Outside these conurbations, the number of people affected by major roads stood at 2,116,100, while those affected by major railways totalled 81,800 and the number affected by major airports reached 143,700.

Energy: Energy production and consumption exert severe pressures on the environment and human health. Energy consumption in Spain rose in recent decades with economic development and the increase of transport, industry, services and the domestic sector. However, the pace of increase has slowed since 2008. In fact, the final energy consumption in Spain In 2009 (including non-energy consumptions) was 97,776 ktoe, 7.4% lower than in 2008.

Tourism: Since 1995, Spain has received growing numbers of foreign tourists (the total rose from 34.9 million in 1995 to 52.2 million in 2009). In 2009, the country received 1.12 foreign tourists per resident. The pressure exerted by tourism on biodiversity derives from changes in land use, soil compaction and increased construction in coastal areas, greater atmospheric pollution by road and air traffic and increased consumption of resources.

Agriculture, livestock farming, forestry and fishing: Spain has EU's second-largest utilised agricultural area and the fourth-largest number of farms (2007). Water consumption and use of fertilisers and pesticides are causes of pressure on the environment. In 2008, irrigated land accounts for 13.7 % of utilised agricultural area and the amount of organic farmland stood at 1,317,750 ha in 2008. The average fertiliser consumption was 92.4 kg/ha and pesticide product consumption reached 2.81 kg/ha of active ingredient.

According to the latest available data, Spain's forest area, comprising woodland and other forest formations, covers over 27 million ha. Estimates indicate that the country's wooded area has increased by 6.5 % since 1995.

Spain's extensive and varied coastline has given rise to a long-standing fishing tradition. In recent years, average total catches have stood at around 1 million tonnes. At the same time, marine and inland aquaculture (both fish and molluscs) have increased, particularly in the last decade. Rationalisation of Spain's fishing fleet to meet European regulations has reduced it to 11,394 vessels (2008). European waters, among them the Spanish coastal waters, are habitually overfished and some species may already be below their safe biological limits.

Primary industry has unquestionable repercussions on the environment and, therefore, on biodiversity. However, these age-old activities are not in themselves the main or only reason for biodiversity loss. After all, traditional practices had established a symbiotic relationship between the environment and human activity that was mutually beneficial for centuries. The greatest danger comes from intensive resource exploitation in agriculture, livestock farming, forestry and fishing and from use of technologies that have an aggressive impact on fragile ecosystems.

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