The Nature Protection Service (, SEPRONA) is a unit of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Civil Guard responsible for

nature conservation Nature conservation is the ethic/moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values ...

and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

of the

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

industry. It serves to carry out and oversee State provisions to preserve

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

, the environment,

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either Fresh water, freshwater from natural sources, or water produ ...

, and preserving wealth in hunting,

fish farming Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

and other nature related industries. They are also heavily involved in work against spills and

contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scien ...

, illegal trade of

protected species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, invasiv ...

, unregulated hunting and fishing activities,

protection Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

of natural spaces, and

prevention Prevention may refer to: Health and medicine * Preventive healthcare, measures to prevent diseases or injuries rather than curing them or treating their symptoms General safety * Crime prevention, the attempt to reduce deter crime and crimin ...

and extinction of fires.

History

The idea of SEPRONA dates back to June 7, 1876, where the

Spanish monarchy The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...

ordered the Civil Guard to take on new security and

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

objectives, varying from the protection of public

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s, fire prevention, preventing clandestine

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

and other resources. Not until 1986, however, where the State demanded the Civil guard ensure conservation of nature and the environment. Thus in 1988 the Civil Guard created the Servicio Protección de la Naturaleza, or SEPRONA, guaranteeing

citizens the right to a suitable environment as well as the right to preserve the environment. SEPRONA was reorganized again in 2000, and since it is entrusted with the prevention of environmental harm and protection of movable and immovable

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

listed as historic

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

s in all the Spanish national territory and its territorial, including sea preservation of protected and endangered species. "Its base of work is very extensive, and its components work with over 2000

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

s and

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

s in constant and continuous adaptation to both

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

changes themselves of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, State,

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

community and even

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

ordinances, being the specialty of the Civil Guard, which handles more

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

Organization

The

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of SEPRONA is called Unidad Central Operativa Medioambiental (UCOMA). Because Spain has the largest degree of

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the country itself serves as a point of reference in topics regarding nature conservation. This puts a higher amount of environmental responsibility on Spain versus other European countries. About 11.8% of Spain's national territory is conserved by

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

or national government. Each province is accounted for having the following: #Technical Office: Which coordinates and supports missions of SEPRONA #Teams: investigate and quantify environmental violations. #

Patrol A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, or security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology The word "patrol" is derived from the Frenc ...

: Responsible for prevention, monitoring and reporting aggressions. The responsibilities associated with the Nature Protection Service vary, yet all its purposes serve to better the environment and conserve nature. Aside from the roles mentioned above, SEPRONA is associated with the collaboration with the authorities and bodies concerned to plan and execute an effective policy in a given area. "Since 2002 there is a cooperation agreement between the autonomous community (Ministry of agriculture and water) and the Ministry of the Interior for protection of the nature of the Region teams collaborate on environmental inspection tasks. For its part the autonomous administration contributes, through

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

contributions to the improvement of the material means and formation of civil guards involved in the aforementioned teams." With the collaboration of those local authorities, they work to: *Promote behaviors of respect for nature. *Check the status of conservation of water resources (continental and maritime),

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

and forestry to prevent any pollution, aggression or abusive use. *Assist in the prevention of

forest fires A forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Au ...

. *Protect the atmospheric environment monitoring the degree of pollution and radioactivity level. *Perform the actions aimed to promote the normal development of the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

(continental and maritime) and particularly protected species. *Contribute to the correct use of forestry, hunting and fishing resources. *Facilitate the proper enjoyment of the natural space preventing activities that can degrade it. *Create the

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

s relating to the service.

Effectiveness

The following are statistics of SEPRONA's environmental policing from the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

for the year 2010: Moreover, in 2011 alone SEPRONA arrested more than 300 people on account of violations against the environment. Over 200 people were involved in violations in management of the territory, 72 in forest fires and 10 in illegal trade of exotic species Infringements with the largest number of complaints were for hunting, fishing and possession of protected species laws, and for issues regarding urban, dangerous, radioactive and

sanitary Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

residues.

References

External links

Official website
* :es:Servicio de Protección de la Naturaleza {{Authority control

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Forestry in Spain Civil Guard (Spain)

History

Organization

Effectiveness

See also

References

External links