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  3. HISTORY OF THE AIGUAMOLLS OF THE EMPORDà

History of the Aiguamolls of the Empordà

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October 13th was the 28th anniversary of one of the happiest days of my life. On October 13th 1983 the Parliament of Catalonia solemnly and unanimously approved the law that created the Natural Park of the Aiguamolls de l’Empordà. This was the culmination of seven years of struggle during which I was devoted body and soul to the cause of defending the Aiguamolls. The parting shot of this struggle was an article in the magazine Presència in 1976, which I wrote after having explored the nature and fauna of the area during four years. In those years I fell in love with those “living shelters,” as Maria Angeles Anglada called them, full of intensive life.

Ornithological renaissance

Even though I don’t work there, I often visit the Aiguamolls as I enjoy seeing this dream come true. When we stood in front of the construction machines and all seemed lost, we were driven by our love for the birds and their living landscapes. Even then we stubbornly believed in the renaissance of these wetlands and the life forms that inhabit them. We never had a doubt that we would overcome, and that was part of our success.
The magazine “Plaça Major” published in Sant Pere Pescador dedicated a large part of its January 1984 edition to the recently approved creation of the Aiguamolls Park. I explained the law in this article, which concluded: “With the protection of the Aiguamolls we can welcome the full ornithological renaissance of the Empordà plain.”
And we made it. Today there are thousands of coots and ducks, Harriers build there nests here, as do Great Bitterns, Great Egrets, Storks, and many other birds such as the geese from the north that no longer have to flee any further. The Aiguamolls are a wonderful refuge for fauna, a place charged with life where the birds can breed and raise their young in peace. We Empordanese and Catalans have proven that it is possible to live together in peace, to maintain biodiversity and the landscapes of our ancestors and to pass them on to our descendants as an example of environmental class and of civilization.
It moves me to see those thousands of birds inhabiting the fields and ponds without knowing that they were but a hairbreadth away from disappearing. I am moved by the thousands of visitors when I see how they love the Aiguamolls and value it as our common heritage.
Now we must continue to work with enthusiasm to reinforce or reintroduce certain species, to flood certain ponds that are still dry, to protect the beaches and to conserve certain sections of the shoreline to connect different biological areas such as the lower Ter, including its rice fields, which it would be terrible to lose.
All this we find within one region, a region that understands that progress means sustainable growth; it means the preservation of the beauty and vigour of the landscape that we share with the plants and animals that inhabit them; it means sharing that wonderful adventure that is life on Earth. “We have stopped death in a long struggle, A truce signed with air and wings.”
These words were written by the well-remembered Maria Angels Anglada. I believe we must bellow the message out in all directions: MAY YOU LIVE MANY MORE YEARS, AIGUAMOLLS!// Jordi Sargatal Vicens. Director of the Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l’Empordà from 1984 to 1998

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