In 1994, Doñana National Park was declared a World Heritage Site - the highest distinction bestowed by the UNESCO upon a natural or cultural space. This status reflects the extraordinary uniqueness of this group of ecosystems in Huelva and the importance of preserving them for future generations.



Considered one of the world's most important natural locations, the territory of Doñana encompasses over 100,000 hectares of protected land, almost all of which is located within the province of Huelva, although a small segment is shared with the neighbouring provinces of Cadiz and Seville. The specially protected National Park lies withini this territory, occupying 50,720 hectares on the right-hand bank of the Guadalquivir River and its estuary on the Atlantic Ocean. Famed around the world for the diversity of its ecosystems, Doñana is an organic mosaic that includes lagoons, beaches, shifting and fixed sand dunes, reserves and salt marshes, as well as many transition areas. These different wild spaces are home to an incredibly rich variety of fauna and serve as wintering sites of more than 300,000 waterfowl every year. Some of those bird species are seriously threatened, such as the white-headed duck, the marbled duck, the purple swamphen and the slender-billed gull. Doñana also harbours two of the Euopean animal species currently facing the highest risk of extinction - the SPanish imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx, both endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.

Almost entirely surrounding the National Park - with which it shares close ties and ecosystems - Doñana Natural Park extends over a vast area of 53,835 hectares. Within the province of Huelva, the park boasts many natural treasures such as the spectacular Asperillo sand dunes, the pine forests and lagoons of Hinojos (which attract thousands of waterfowl when they become inundated) and the Abalario lagoons. Apart from the areas of both parks, an additional 2,040 hectares of land inthis region also enjoys varying degreees of protection.

If this region only possessed a few of the environmental characteristics and riches mentioned above, they would still be more than enough to make a large part of the Doñana territory worthy of protected status and national and international distinctions it has already been granted. Doñana has been declared a National Park, a Ramsar Conventions site "of exceptional importance for fowl" and a ZEPA site "for the special protection of fowl". Moreover, UNESCO has also granted the National Park two notable designations - Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site. The latter, granted in 1994, is undoubtedly the most important, given that its basic objective is to include Doñana among the world's most important and exceptional cultural and natural sites and preserve it as a part of the world's common heritage. This disctincion officially recognises Doñana National Park unique characteristics, as well as its extraordinary value as a legacy to be shared with the world.