CLEARANCE OF BRAMBLES IN GAMIZ

A month ago we saw that brambles beside the river had been cleared. It`s true to say that most people don`t like brambles and in Basque there`s an expression “sasi guztien gainetik” which means overcoming all sorts of brambles / problems. But there is another meaning in Basque which means refuge.

And it`s this second meaning that applies in this case as brambles represent refuge for many small animals including the European mink. What`s more, in Bizkaia there is a Plan for the protection of the European mink, which explicitly talks about the importance of riverside brambles, “Both males and females prefer riverbanks with a lot of undergrowth. In fact, the areas which they use most are always the ones with brambles. They don`t have any particular favourite plant growth but for refuge and protection they prefer areas made up of brambles, fens and teasels.”

The 9th article goes on to clearly state that “ In any of these special protected areas where a change is to be made to the habitat used by this species to breed or to have refuge, permission has to be sought from the Ministry of Agriculture.”

Therefore, we find it difficult to understand why permission has been given to do such a barbaric thing. It`s true that it wasn`t done in the breeding period but such a habitat is indispensable. We have asked both URA (the Waterways Agency) and the “Diputazioa” (Provincial Government Authority) to explain why they gave permission for it as we don`t believe it should have been given!