[Animals] The rebirth of the most polluted river in Barcelona fills it with wildlife

[HeWhoRemains™]

The renaturation of the Besòs, historical victim of spills for decades, attracts citizens and species such as flamingos

• The croaking of several amphibians looking for their partner marks the beginning of spring in Besòs. “It's a green frog: objective achieved, Joan”, the biologist Tomàs Carrión comments excitedly to his assistant as they wander along the riverbank. After a while they record with their mobile a group of five bees that they find in a flower as if it were gold. A week ago even biologist Pat Gallart sighted a migrating flamingo. These findings are the green shoots of the renaturation of a river that was one of the most polluted in Europe, the great sewer of Barcelona. The first phase of the rehabilitation finished a couple of weeks after a year of works, four of planning and one million euros.

• Barcelona and Santa Coloma de Gramanet, the main towns that surround the Besòs, went from living behind an open sewer in the eighties to embracing its river park: now two million people spend every year walking, doing sports or whatever activity throughout this green lung of 115 hectares. Even the Catalan Water Agency plans to reuse and make the water of its final section drinkable. The Santa Coloma City Council plans for this public leisure space to also become a paradise of biodiversity for education and research by the end of the decade.

 

• Three lagoons to house more than 200 species and combat climate change

  For Carrión, the renaturation is "a second stage" in the life of the river that has materialized between the Old Bridge of Santa Coloma and the Can Zam park. It consists of this natural space, affected by human intervention for decades, self-regulating itself through three artificial lagoons. They have been designed to combat climate change and are home to more than 200 native species, most of them birds, followed by butterflies, fish and mammals.

https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2023-04-05/el-renacer-del-rio-mas-contaminado-de-barcelona-lo-llena-de-vida-salvaje.html

Edited April 7, 2023 by ►PhøêŋĬx◄