Improving the management of large protected wetlands: Learning the lessonsfrom the Donana nature reserves.

The Donana National Park (Guadalquivir estuary, SW Spain) enjoys internatio nal credit as a major wintering and stopover area for a wide array of migra tory birds. However, the Park suffers from ever-increasing degradation caus ed by its position in a heavily used area and the concurrent inadequacy of the Park's management practices. In this paper, we analyse the water use st ructure and its associated decision-making network for the Guadalquivir wat ershed. Current fragmentation in both the praxis and the conceptualisation of water use and management is found to underlay the above-described degrad ation process. We then elucidate the origins and consequences of this fragm entation by: (a) describing the historical process behind the construction of socio-natu re in the Guadalquivir watershed; (b) mapping the institutional and socio-technical organisation of the Donan a nature reserves management (National Park, Natural Park and Biological Re serve), and situating it in the framework of Spanish territorial and enviro nmental management. Finally, we use an Ecological Water Management methodological framework to identify directions for improving the Park's management: integrating Donana in its watershed,, establishing a global framework for nature conservation and creating an institutional framework for strategic management.