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article_detail
Date Published: 25/11/2021
ARCHIVED - Citrus farmers ordered to remove crops from Mar Menor protection zone
4.91 hectares of land in the municipality of Cartagena are affected by this new ruling from the High Court of Murcia
The High Court of Justice in the Region of Murcia has made an unprecedented ruling and has ordered the removal of 4.9 hectares of citrus fruit trees near the Mar Menor, which has been badly damaged by agricultural run-off in the past several years.
The Court has ordered the restitution of the land, located near Casa de lo Pereas (Cartagena) to its natural state due to “environmental reasons”, meaning that they judge that the land is contributing to the nitrate contamination of the Mar Menor. In addition, this cultivation area is in zone 1 of the Law of Recovery and Protection of the Mar Menor, making it even more crucial to prevent nitrate-laden fertilisers from being used for these citrus trees.
According to the order, the owners of the field have two months to present a plan to recover the plot and a deadline of six months to remove all citrus trees, as well as covering all costs that this may incur.
Another issue raised by the High Court is that this agricultural land has been watered without authorisation from the Segura Hydrographic Confederation, who had already issued a 3,000-euro fine to the proprietors back in 2019 for “the private use of public waters without authorization and/or concession”.
The owners of the 4.91-hectare plot have stated that their land “doesn’t contaminate” and that ripping up these trees could cause irreparable damage to the Mar Menor, as they supposedly stop contaminated rainwater from reaching the lagoon.
However, the High Court considers that their allegation of non-contamination is “generic” and “lacks any facts to back up the claim”, the judicial body also pointed out that the citrus trees should not be in such a prime state as the owners of the field were banned from watering their crops two years ago and, in theory, these trees should have received only rainwater since then.
Unfortunately, this order is not yet definitive and the accused can still appeal their case.
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