Terres de l'Ebre can congratulate itself. We started off the summer with one of the best pieces of news that this area has received in years. We are excited to be able to inform you that after months of hard work and effort, UNESCO has declared most of Terres de l'Ebre to be a Biosphere Reserve. This is a sign of quality which implies international recognition for a region which combines natural treasures of the utmost interest and two ecosystems which are unique in the Mediterranean: the Delta del Ebro (Ebro Delta) and Macizo de Els Ports (Els Ports mountain range) separated by just 30 kilometres.
According to the winter census of aquatic birds for this year, there were more than 287,174 birds at the delta, which is 24% higher than the average marked over the last ten years and corresponds to the second highest in history since 1972. The biggest difference from the last two censuses is that this year all of the rice fields in the north part of the delta were flooded.
The white winged snowfinch wasn’t recorded as wintering in Els Ports until December 2011, when a group of seven were sighted on different dates in the same area of Horta de Sant Joan.
The Sebes and Meandro de Flix Wildlife Nature Reserve covers a large area of wetlands on the banks of the Ebro river near the village of Flix (Ribera d’Ebre county). In a similar way to natural areas in English speaking countries, this is a pioneering management experience of a natural area by a local NGO, Grupo de Naturaleza Freixe (Freixe Nature Group).
Over recent years, nature tourism, and more specifically, ornithological tourism has seen a huge increase: what was once of very little significance in the context of national tourism has now become a growing sector which attracts more and more specialized tourism year after year.
The Educational and Tourist Services at the Museum itself has created a specific tourist product for nature tourism, showing the biodiversity in Terres de l’Ebre, and giving special interest to butterflies and dragonflies.
Picampall, the Terres de l'Ebre Ornithological Association was created in order to conserve, study and promote the rich birdlife in this area. It comprises a group of people with one common denominator, they appreciate the earth. They are most definitely conservationists, with a scientific nature for research.
For SEO / BirdLife protecting the Ebro delta has been a priority. A campaign to defend the wetlands began in 1994 when a permanent office was opened. In 19977, after two years of research and debate, the Plan Delta XXI was introduced, which is a document of 100 pages summarizing assessments and giving innovative answers to a series of threats affecting the wetlands. In the same year a four year long programme called Life was introduced for experimental ecological rice cultivation, with excellent results.
