Anthropic pressure on the cantabrian coast

Abstract

The Autonomous Community of Cantabria is in the north of Spain, its northern border formed by the shores of the Cantabrian Sea. During the last few decades, socio-economic development has centred around the coastline, endangering natural ecosystems of great ecological value and renewable resources, as well as cultural values and traditional uses of land.

Cantabria has lost around 50 % of its estuary ecosystems, taking land from the sea for agrofishing, residential and industrial uses and for transport infrastructures, ignoring the values of biological productivity of these areas and their importance for the maintenance of traditional fishing grounds.

Today, fishing constitutes a secondary economic activity, with negative average annual rates in the catches of the main fisheries. These days, fishing ports are being transformed to house mainly recreational nautical activities.

The sediments of the Bay of Santander, San Martín de la Arena Estuary (Suances) and the Bay of Santoña have accumulated high concentrations of heavy metals. In Cantabria, in the period between the year 2001 and the second term of 2003, 33828 new housing units have been built, 94.2 % on the coastal strip. As for the transformation of the vegetation, the number of eucalyptus trees increased in the period from 1972 to 2000 by 72 %.