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Valencia receives Ramsar Wetland City Accreditation for protecting Albufera lagoon
Valencia has received the Ramsar Wetland City Accreditation for its efforts aimed at protecting the Albufera lagoon. Mayor of Valencia Joan Ribó attended the award ceremony in Geneva and accepted the recognition granted by the Independent Advisory Committee (IAC).
This made Valencia the first city in Spain to receive the Ramsar accreditation, with Ribó pointing out that the IAC rewarded the city’s efforts to protect the lagoon.
Ribó reminded that the lagoon “is a wetland closely linked since ancient times to traditional activities such as fishing, production of salt and cultivation of rice.”
He stressed that residents have an emotional bond with the Albufera, which is reflected in popular culture, literature, art and gastronomy, among other.
The Valencia City Council called for listing the Albufera as a nature park, which was approved in 1986, granting protected status to roughly 21,120 hectares of the lagoon.
Ribó reminded that Valencia tripled the municipal budget for maintaining canals and drains, cooperates with neighbouring municipalities and invests in conservation of the lagoon.
He noted that a canal dredging project worth some EUR 1.5 million will be carried out soon as part of broader conservation efforts.
Ribó thanked “all those generations of citizens who put the love and protection of their land, their landscapes and their culture before particular interests” and concluded that Valencia received the Ramsar Accreditation thanks to their efforts.
