Protected Areas in the Doñana Region
Maximum protection for a unique region.
Maximum protection for a unique region.
Doñana’s outstanding natural significance also requires top-level protection. Doñana is subject to various protection designations and management tools. The primary protection designation is its designation as a National Park under Law 91/1978. Subsequently, in 1989, the Natural Park was established, and in 1999, the Andalusian Parliament approved Law 8 of October 27 on the Doñana Natural Area, as the management framework for the National and Natural Park. In addition, it has received numerous international recognitions, including designation as a Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO), a World Heritage Site (UNESCO), a Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar Convention), and a Natura 2000 site.
Visits to any of these areas must adhere to best practices. Responsible tourism will ensure that, thanks to the commitment to sustainable tourism upheld in this charming corner of Andalusia, it remains a place of enjoyment for future generations.
Doñana National Park.
Established in 1969, it covers an area of 39,000 hectares within the municipalities of Almonte and Hinojos, in the province of Huelva. Currently, the National Park covers an area of 54,252 hectares and extends across the municipalities of Almonte and Hinojos in Huelva, and Aznalcázar and La Puebla del Río in Seville. Its territory includes a mosaic of ecosystems of great ecological value: marshes, shifting dunes, stabilized sand areas, pine forests, beaches, and a transitional zone between the forest and the marshes known as La Vera. Primarily terrestrial, this area also includes a coastal protection zone that extends along Castilla Beach to the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.
Doñana Natural Park.
Created in the outer ring of the national park in 1989 and expanded in 1997 to 68,236 hectares as a buffer zone comprising four geographically discontinuous sectors surrounding the National Park. It is a unique protected natural area that encompasses territories in three different provinces (Huelva, Seville, and Cádiz), separated or distributed across various sectors with highly distinct ecological and human characteristics.
Doñana Natural Park.
The Doñana Natural Area was established in 1999, bringing together the unified management of Doñana National Park and Doñana Natural Park under a single environmental protection framework.
Doñana Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO).
Given its international significance, UNESCO included Doñana National Park in the global network of Biosphere Reserves in 1981 and expanded its area to 268,294 hectares in 2016. Work is currently underway to expand the reserve to include the entire municipal areas of Moguer, Palos de la Frontera, and Lucena del Puerto within the Biosphere Reserve. Until now, the portion of these municipalities that was within the Biosphere Reserve coincided with the Natural Park.
Broadly speaking, the core zone corresponds to Doñana National Park plus the Arroyo de la Rocina; the buffer zone with the Doñana Natural Park, and the transition zone corresponds to the rest of the territory up to the outer perimeter of the combined municipal boundaries, which means that most of the municipal territories of the 14 municipalities in the Doñana region are included within it.
Doñana has also received other international recognitions:
- Natura 2000 Network
- Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (1982)
- Council of Europe Diploma for Conservation (1985)
- UNESCO World Heritage Site (1994)
- European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (2006)
- IUCN Green List of Protected Areas (2015)