SIBELCO Spain

Objective

The main actions envisaged are aimed at deploying the potentialities of this area as an environment of ecological value and host of public use.

Context

Located in the Pinar de la Plata area, between the monumental city of Arcos, the reservoir, the Guadalete River and the natural landscape of the tail of the swamp. This area was restored at the beginning of the 90s by means of a plantation of Aleppo pine trees and since then it is carried out a periodic maintenance.

Actions

Faunal adaptation of the rafts

To increase the diversity, the number of waterfowl species and the fauna in general, which are able to maintain the rafts.

• Maintenance of a certain sheet of free water.

• Control of the depth of the rafts.

• Diversification of the contours of the rafts, creating an artificial island and clearing beaches to facilitate the entry and exit of birds.

• Take advantage of these actions to diversify the vegetation with other riparian vegetation species.

• Protection of the most sensitive breeding areas with denser vegetation on the side of the adjacent pine grove.

The called effect of the present avifauna, and an adequate maintenance of the habitat of the rafts, in order to maintain the current breeding and wintering waterfowl species and attract new ones, which allows to reach a specific diversity even comparable with the SPA of the tail of the reservoir of Arcos and with that of the Bornos reservoir, with the addition of a greater facility of observation for the non-specialized visitor, contributing to enrich the experience of the public use of the pine forest.

Diversification of pine habitat for wildlife

As management objectives for the pine forest can be considered:

• The diversification of the vegetation with autochthonous species.

• Improve the quality of the internal landscape.

• Increase the quality of shelters and food offered to wildlife.

• Planting of stands with mastic scrub, kermes oak and other species.

• Replacement of the hexagonal torsion mesh of the perimeter fence to the rafts by a hunting mesh, to facilitate the movement of the fauna.

Actions to make it richer in an ecological sense and also more visually attractive for park users.

Result

At present the park of the Pinar de la Plata, is constituted by two environments: the pine forest and the lagoon. The rafts have an abundant coverage of aeneas in the most shallow part, and in the margins of canes; there are also isolated feet of white poplars, willows and tamarises.

As the main ecological value of this space, regular use of the lagoons has been achieved by various species of fauna, among the birds nine species have been detected in the Andalusian List of Species in Special Protection Regime: purple swamphen, purple heron, plover boy, common swift, daurian swallow, common nightingale, bastard, reed warbler and flycatcher. In addition, not included in the list, have been located Mallard, Turkish Dove and Wood Pigeon.