Few people in Busturialdea and in the rest of Euskadi they noticed December 6, 1984 of the transcendence that could be have the future that UNESCO Urdaibai has explained as a new biosphere reserve. It is even difficult to find someone to remember that date.
Since Four decades have passed and the Urdaibai reserve has completed many changeablenesses: Reduction of biodiversity with loss of species, lack of control when not permissivity against the actual power represented by the forestry sector, involvement of invasive plants, industrial pollution and waste water, dragged, over -exploitation of aquifers, exaggerated use as a sports zone …
In case this was not enough, A new threat is now emerging: The plan that the Basque government and the Diputación want to implement the Bizkaia to install two more locations (one in Gernika and another in Murueta) of the museum Guggenheim. These institutions claim that the project guarantees their conservation, but given the background there are only a few they believe.
The expansion of the Guggenheim Museum
Given the statements of the president of the Basque government, Imanol Pradales, after meeting Mariet Westermann, CEO of the Solomon R Foundation. Guggenheim From New York, Greenpeace replies that the Expansion of Guggenheim in the Biosphere Reserve of Urdaibai is an outdated and predatory idea of nature.
The organization replicates the Lehendakari that the context in which the museum was built cannot be compared Guggenheim van Bilbao, in the industrialized and demolished Bilba of the 90s, with the situation in which It increases the expansion of the museum in Urdaibai, an unpredictable area areawho have countless protection figures.
In his statements, Imanol Pradales also mentions the “active listening process” process that is being carried out to “analyze” the future of the museum, in which he says, more than 1,000 people will be consulted. However, This consultation is not binding, so it does not ensure that Basque institutions will pay attention to the result.
The Lehendakari visit to New York implies that the Basque authorities do not intend to serve the Basque citizens who call this project not to be implemented, and to continue their idea that the expansion of the expansion of the Guggenheim in Urdaibai It will be “yes or yes”, as elixabete Etxanobe, Bizkaia deputy said. The environmental organization remembers that they are already Almost 20,000 People who have shown their rejection of this project with their signature, What the 1,000 consultations that will be made far exceeds.
“Nowadays We are increasingly aware of what climate change and loss of biodiversity entails. If we want to avoid the worst scenarios for climate change, we need healthy ecosystems that help us reduce those effects.
In that sense, Wetlands are crucial ecosystems for carbon absorptionThe mitigation of floods, the regulation of the quality of the waters and many other benefits. Guggenheim.
The extension It cannot be due to the destruction of such a valuable spaceWith an international protection figure: the deterioration of a vital ecosystem and the reputation of the Guggenheim “Lorea Flores, spokesperson for ecologists in Euskadi, has stated.
Maintaining the Urdaibai Reserve
“It is a project that can cost us very expensive, because it could be Let all conservation efforts of the Urdaibai region fail, And because it is also a private project that will mainly be paid with public money.
Public money must Go to the protection and repair of ecosystems with a high environmental earthas the biosphere reserve of Urdaibai. President Pradales must be concerned about the protection of the Basque nature and not destroying it in the name of private interests, “said Flores.
On August 18, 2024, the regulation of the restoration of nature was in force, This marks the objectives of repairing at least 20 % of the land and sea areas of the European Union from here to 2030 and all ecosystems that are restored from here to 2050.
We are already working on the National Restoration Plan of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, and The environmental organization requires that The Urdaibai biosphere reserve is included in this plan.
The spokeswoman for ecologists in Euskadi concludes: “A museum that Attentive against the core of the only reserve of the Baskadi bios atmosphere, cataloged as an international interest WetlandL, it’s useless in the 21st century. Culture and nature must go hand in hand.