Wetlands are vital to life on Earth. Points of great biological diversity that provide water, food and benefits to countless species that depend on them to survive. Despite Spain is the third country in number of wetlands, After the United Kingdom and Mexico, the reality is that almost 90% of these ecosystems considered as Important Areas for the conservation of Birds and Biodiversity (IBA) are in danger, according to the latest report presented by the institution. SEO BirdLife.
This is a critical widespread situation that expands to all wetlands on the planet. These natural environments They are home to 40 percent of the world's species, which live or reproduce in them. They are a fundamental habitat for many species that also suffer the threat of extinction, such as those that live in the tropics and which it helps to protect. BIOPARC Fuengirola through the different conservation programs in which it participates.
Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, supporting unique aquatic and terrestrial communities with high biodiversity. In the case of tropical species, many threatened species such as Orangutans, Sri Lankan leopards and Sumatran tigers find refuge in the peat bog and mangrove forests of Indonesia, the largest in the world.
At BIOPARC Fuengirola there are many threatened species that inhabit these ecosystems and which depend on them for their survival. The disappearance of wetlands implies the disappearance of these animals. On the tour, visitors can see the flamingos, spoonbills and African tantalums, the military lapwing, several species of ducks or gray pelicans.
The loss of wetlands as the natural habitat of all these species makes them especially sensitive to the decline of their populations, in some cases, even becoming critically endangered, as is the case of the porrón de Baer.
Other native species that make BIOPARC Fuengirola a place of passage due to the drought of wetlands near the park
The current situation of wetlands is causing the birds that normally inhabit or make temporary stops in them to begin searching for new natural spaces that provide water and meet their needs. One of these is BIOPARC Fuengirola. The estuaries and humid spaces of the Malaga animal park become a refuge for birds that come in search of water and food that are scarce in other places.
Specimens of gray herons, egrets, martinets, cormorants, kingfishers, common rockfish, black-headed nightingales, mallards and wagtails can be observed. They all look for the same thing: a natural space in which to feed.
Activities with which to celebrate World Wetlands Day this February at BIOPARC Fuengirola
The On February 3 and 4, BIOPARC Fuengirola organizes the free activity “Let's protect the wetland”, a meeting in which the whole family can learn about the importance and multitude of curiosities that surround these magnificent ecosystems that are currently threatened by agriculture, urban development and climate change itself. The Education team will bring participants closer to wading birds, one of its numerous inhabitants, and they will participate in the resolution of a great mystery that they will have to solve. The activity is intended for all audiences. Those interested will only have to go on the indicated days to the meeting point, which will be the flamingo viewpoint at 12:00 p.m., inside the animal park.
Conservation mission
The BIOPARCs represent in Spain the new paradigm of animal parks of the 50st century whose objectives are awareness, conservation and maximum animal well-being. As a XNUMXst century zoo, which understands and practices its educational, research and conservation function for threatened species, BIOPARC Fuengirola participates in more than XNUMX exsitu conservation programs.
These projects are developed thanks to the existing coordination between the zoos of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), and the Iberian Association of Zoos and Aquariums ( AIZA), associations of which Bioparc Fuengirola is a member. Since the beginning and in these more than 20 years, BIOPARC Fuengirola has evolved to become a benchmark in Andalusia and beyond. With objectives in which conservation work, research and the educational function are the protagonists.
