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article_detail
Date Published: 20/04/2021
ARCHIVED - Catalan rice growers fund ANSE project to recover the salt flats of Marchamalo
Nomen Foods have donated 25,000 euros to the project at the southern end of the Mar Menor
A project launched by the naturalists of ANSE to recover the old salt flats of Marchamalo, close to the southern end of La Manga on the shore of the Mar Menor, has received a boost in the form of a 25,000-euro donation from Nomen Foods, a large rice-producing cooperative based in Tarragona in the south of Catalunya.
The donation will be used to set in motion the conservation project designed by ANSE in an area which has been neglected for decades, and has been made as a gesture of “environmental solidarity” under the umbrella of the “Nomen Earth” initiative. This consists of a new range of rice produced by the cooperative, the profits from which are all re-invested in conservation projects selected by consumers, and in this case the chosen beneficiary is the ANSE project.
It was in late 2019 that the Fundación ANSE purchased 7,000 square metres of land in Marchamalo, including a dilapidated building formerly used for salt production, and since then various donations have been received from both individuals and institutions, including the Fundación Cajamurcia. These funds have made it possible for details of the project to be drawn up over the last 18 months, the aim being to recover aquatic biodiversity in the area through the resumption of salt production, and the document is ready to be presented for approval by the Department of Coasts.
The salt flats of Marchamalo and San Pedro del Pinatar are the only ones in the Region of Murcia which still permanently contain water, making them important habitats for seabirds and other species. Some of the other old flats are abandoned, as is the case on the south-western shore of the Mar Menor in Lo Poyo, while others are either being developed or on the point of being developed: this is the case both in Los Narejos and in Mazarrón, according to ANSE.
The Salinas de Marchamalo are protected as a Site of Community Importance, a ZEPA birdlife protection zone, a ZEPIM (zone of importance for the Mediterranean), a Ramsar wetland and a Protected Natural Area, but ANSE lament that they have been neglected for the last 25 years since salt production ceased. The resulting deterioration in the facilities has meant that to resume production in such a way as to make it compatible with conservation requires considerable investment.
Among the species traditionally found in the area are numerous wading birds, including flamingos, and the Spanish toothcarp, which is under threat of extinction, and ANSE envisage various measures to favour their return or survival. These include repairing the water transfer channels which have been damaged, partially dredging the flats, repairing dykes, installing a new water supply pump and various other restorations of the infrastructures which were used in the salt industry, and it is hoped that permission will be given to begin making use of the Nomen Foods donation within the next few months.
Nomen Foods produces the Nomen, Bayo and Segadors del Delta brands of rice and is one of the largest rice production cooperatives in Spain. Founded in 1860, it has over 2,000 members and produces over 45 million kilos per year.
Since 2009 the Segadors del Delta Brand name has been used to market all of the round and “bomba” rice grains grown in the Delta del Ebro Natural Park in Tarragona, as well as a rice liqueur. The modern production plant in Deltebre employs 68 people and controls 5,500 hectares of rice fields in the Ebro delta.
The main brand of the group is Nomen, while Bayo products are directed at the Horeca group in the hospitality sector.
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