Spain's Andalusia region to buy land to expand endangered wetland

FILE PHOTO: Animals are pictured in marshes at Donana National Park, where drought has reduced water levels, in El Rocio village, Spain April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - The government of the southern Spanish region of Andalusia plans to buy swathes of land around the Donana National Park in a bid to preserve and expand its wetlands threatened by frequent droughts, rising temperatures and illegal water usage.

Regional leader Juanma Moreno said on Tuesday the planned purchase of 7,500 hectares (18,533 acres) would expand Donana's area by 14% in what he called "the biggest action for the conservation of the park in the last decades".