Dª.

Elena Espinosa Mangana Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9G U

Ministra De Medio Ambiente Y Medio Rural Y Telephone 020-3353 2000
Marino guardian.co.uk
(BOE. 14-04-08)
Dirección: Paseo de Infanta Isabel, 1
28071 MADRID

October 5, 2010

Dear Minister of Environment,

I am writing on behalf of the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and our readers
worldwide to ask you to consider a proposal for protecting Spain’s biodiversity.

The action has been proposed by our online readers and developed by professional scientists. It
is based by scientific evidence.

We believe it will both protect an important species and habitat and send a clear signal to the
negotiations at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP10 in Nagoya later this month
that the decisive, concrete actions can and must be taken to halt the alarming decline in global
biodiversity.

Our campaign, Biodiversity 100, has identified 26 achievable actions in a number of countries
and has the support of the international scientific community. We are sharing our proposals with
journalists around the world, who will be able to measure the success of their national and local
governments in implementing the actions we have put forward. For more details of the
campaign please go to guardian.co.uk/biodiversity100.

The specific proposal we request that you consider is to stop the creation of a ski resort that
threatens critical bear habitat in Castilla y León (more details below).

We kindly request you to react publicly to our recommendation, both through national media
and through your statements to the CBD COP10 plenary. We also urge you to consider
including our proposed action when you revise your National Biodiversity Strategy and Action
Plan after COP10.

As a major international media outlet with a global audience, the Guardian takes seriously its
responsibility to report on the planet’s biodiversity crisis. We would be very keen to hear back
from you about your country’s efforts to protect the natural environment and, especially, to hear
of your reaction to our proposal.
Yours Sincerely,

Alan Rusbridger
Editor-in-Chief
The Guardian
CC: Ms. Marta García Pérez, Deputy Director General, Biodiversity
Mr. François Wakenhut, Head of Unit – Biodiversity, Directorate-General Environment,
European Commission
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive secretary, CBD

Ski Resort in Castilla y León

Action: Stop the creation of a ski resort that threatens critical bear habitat in Castile y León

Description: The regional government of Castilla y León is paving the way for the
development of a new ski resort with 60 pistes in a natural park in the Cantabrian Mountains, by
instigating major changes in regional planning. Prior to 2006, the construction of ski resorts in
the protected area of Fuentes Carrionas was prohibited, but this restriction is now lifted. Spain’s
Ministry for the Environment has opposed the development, called San Glorio. Conservationists
warn that the construction would cause irreparable damage to the habitat of the Cantabrian
brown bear, which is endangered with extinction. There are around 140 brown bears in the
Cantabrian Mountains, with several hundred needed for a viable population. Destroying their
habitat would be detrimental to brown bears. Development of the San Glorio resort should be
halted.

Evidence: According to Jon Swenson of the International Bear Association, San Glorio
would have the same environmental impact as a town of 3,000 inhabitants. Bears would keep
at least 10km away. The IUCN published a conservation report on bears in 1998 with a section
on Cantabrian brown bears. One of the authors, Christopher Servheen, says the resort would
further isolate the two subpopulations in the Cantabrian Mountains, “making them more
susceptible to the demographic and genetic consequences of small population size”.

For the full version of this text with links to scientific papers, please visit the Biodiversity 100 site:
guardian.co.uk/biodiversity100