ICTS-Doñana
Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures are research facilities unique in their kind and open to competitive access. They develop cutting-edge and top-quality research and act as centers for the transmission, exchange, and preservation of knowledge, technology transfer, and the promotion of innovation.
They are singular infrastructures, of public ownership recognized by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and are open to competitive access. There are currently 29 ICTS in Spain and every four years they are evaluated by an advisory committee based on their strategic plans.
What is the ICTS Doñana
The ICTS-Doñana is an infrastructure dependent on the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) which has as objective to provide access and support to field research in the Doñana area, to develop and implement monitoring programs of the physical environment, the wildlife and the ecosystems and to generate biodiversity databases following international standards.
It is the largest field laboratory in Europe and a research tool open to the entire scientific community. A unique infrastructure to research in ecology, evolution, conservation biology and global change, generating information necessary for a good management and conservation of the protected area, extrapolable to other Mediterranean areas. But Doñana also offers other research opportunities, from the areas of geography, geology and chemistry to the social, educational sciences and history.
The ICTS-Doñana provides accommodation, laboratories, field equipment, office space and scientific, technical and logistical support to researchers.
Projects access must be approved openly and competitively by the Access Committee of the ICTS-Doñana.
Historical Overview
At the beginning of the 20th century, the natural richness of Doñana, a hunting preserve at that time, began to attract the attention of naturalists and scientists, with figures such as José Antonio Valverde and Francisco Bernis, who already in the 1950s carried out the first bird banding and promoted research in the area.
The conservation of Doñana took a crucial momentum in the 1960s. In 1963, after a highly impactful national and international campaign and fundraising led by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), the first lands were acquired, and together with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Doñana Biological Reserve (RBD) was purchased at the end of 1963. This designation marked a milestone as the first integral reserve in Spain. A year later (December 1964), the Doñana Biological Station (EBD) was founded, a CSIC research center in the area of natural resources focused on the study of terrestrial vertebrates and the ecology of this protected area.
In 1969, protection was extended, and the Doñana National Park was created, covering a larger area than the Biological Reserve.
Doñana has received various international recognitions throughout its history:
- 1980: Declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.
- 1984: Included in the List of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention).
- 1987: Recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The field diaries of the first researchers and guards constitute the seed of the natural processes monitoring program in Doñana. In 1974, the first aerial census of waterbirds was carried out. Currently, the monitoring carried out by the ICTS-Doñana includes a total of 60 active monitoring protocols. These are divided into 13 monitoring of the abiotic environment (meteorology, radiation, atmosphere, water level and quality), 9 of flora and vegetation, 37 of fauna, and a landscape-scale monitoring. They include manual monitoring, with automatic sensors and through remote sensing.
The Doñana Biological Reserve (RBD) has been a living scientific laboratory, open to external researchers since its creation in 1964. It has been a Large European Scientific Facility in the 4th and 5th Framework Program. First during the period 1994-1997 and then in the period 2002-2004 and has been a Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS) of the Ministry of Science since the creation of the first ICTS map in 2007.
Mission & Vision
Our mission is to be cutting-edge infrastructure to support field research on biodiversity and global change, in collaboration with other similar facilities, which collect long-term ecological data.
We provide infrastructure, support to field research and long-term ecological data on biodiversity and global change for scientists, managers and the general public. The success indicators are the number and the quality of the supported scientific projects, scientific articles published, biodiversity data available and training of researchers and technicians in Doñana.
Organisation
- ICTS-Doñana Director
Eloy revilla- Research Coordination Office
Guyonne Janss - Deputy Director ICTS-Doñana
Javier Bustamante- Doñana Biological Reserve Management Area
Javier Bustamante- Administration Team
- Hospitality Team
- Conservation, Estate Management and Project Support Team
- Environmental Monitoring Area
Ricardo Díaz Delgado- Water and Terrestrial Environment Team
- Bird Populations Team
- ICT Infrastructure and Services Team
- Data and Metadata Team
- Ringing Office
- Scientific Collections Area
Jennifer Leonard- Collections Team