Intensive livestock farming, indicated as one of the causes of the ecological crisis of the Mar Menor

• Environment Mar Menor dies suffocated by agricultural nutrients

• Environment Political stagnation drowns Mar Menor

Nitrate-laden fertilizers used in agricultural activities have been identified as the main cause of the lack of oxygen in the Mar Menor.

Now, eyes are also beginning to turn to the role that intensive livestock farming has played in the ecological disaster that is suffocating the lagoon.

An investigation by Lighthouse Reports, in collaboration with journalists from

and

points out how intensive pig farms have been one of the instigators of anoxia (lack of oxygen) that has devastated the fauna of the Mar Menor. Drone and satellite images of the area, collected in September, show

(a mixture of organic waste), dumped on nearby land or stored in holes in the ground.

In 2019, a report from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) already warned that pig farms (a sector that then had almost 800,000 head) could be responsible for an important part of the nitrogen that ends up in the Sea Less. "It is estimated that the pig sector in the Campo de Cartagena watershed contributes approximately

that passes into the aquifer by infiltration and

" they explained the authors.

This basin has 1,055 slurry ponds full of residues, which include feces, urine and blood, according to data from the 2018 regional government. And the MITECO report

- almost 45 km from the shore of the lagoon- which with its 289 farms concentrates 80% of the intensive livestock farming of the Mar Menor basin.

Also in 2019, another investigation by the Nueva Cultura del Agua Foundation estimated that a farm of this type produces around two cubic meters of slurry per year for each animal, and that

. The main environmental impacts derived from this situation include nitrate contamination of aquifers and surface waters by organic matter and ammonia, as well as emissions of methane and nitrous gases.

The pig sector has experienced significant growth in recent years in Spain. In 2020, more than 56 million pigs were slaughtered (3 million more than the previous year) and the increase in demand for exports means that it

this year. A significant part of the demand that is driving growth comes from China, which lost around 40% of its pigs to African swine fever in 2019.

The regional executive, for its part, has rejected the conclusions of the Ministry's report.

"It does

" the Ministry of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and the Environment declared to the authors of the investigation.

On the other hand, Interporc Spain, which represents the white pig sector (the breed most used in intensive livestock farming) has defended itself by stating that the sector has been making "great efforts" for years to protect the environment "and that" in Spain, more than 90% of the slurry is reused to replace fertilizers, but it can also be treated and transformed into electrical energy ".

Insufficient efforts

Nitrate contamination resulting from human activities is posing increasing problems for European authorities. According to the data published on October 11 by the Commission -related to the period from 2016 to 2019-, the efforts of the Member States remain insufficient to deal with the excessive use of techniques whose nitrogen causes oxygen depletion and deteriorates the quality of the " water, air and soil, affecting human health and the environment ". In particular, it points out the use of fertilizers. During the reference period, 14.1% of groundwater monitoring stations

as annual average.

In the EU, 36% of rivers, 32% of lakes, 31% of coastal waters and 81% of marine waters suffer from eutrophication.

This scientific term, which describes the current situation of the Mar Menor, refers to the excessive growth of phytoplanktonic microorganisms in the presence of nutrients (in this case nitrates and phosphates), until oxygen is consumed and a point incompatible with life in its waters is reached. .

These outcrops of microalgae and bacteria turn the sea green, which is why it is commonly called 'green soup' and is identified by its high levels of chlorophylls.

When phytoplankton growth kicks in, it

, preventing bottom algae and sea plants from photosynthesizing and dying as well.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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