Biologist Antonio Vizcaíno Matarredona, who for many years directed the Devesa-Albufera Service of the Valencia City Council and was a key figure in the recovery of La Devesa, passed away today. Those who knew him highlight his firsthand knowledge of the area and his ability to manage a complex space subject to diverse pressures and involving multiple stakeholders.

The following article is the result of an interview we conducted with him on September 20, 2016, on the occasion of the publication of a book commemorating the 30th anniversary of the declaration of L’Albufera as a natural park: Trenta anys, trenta mirades. Parc Natural de l’Albufera, 1986-2016 (Edicions 96 / Fundació Assut). In it, Vizcaíno reviewed the beginnings of the protection of La Devesa and L’Albufera, the conflicts of those early years, and some of the environmental challenges that, even today, continue to shape the future of this area.

Antonio Vizcaíno, the guardian of La Devesa
The beginnings were tough. Some, who must have been bothered by the first measures adopted by the Devesa-Albufera Service team, such as closing the internal road of La Devesa to traffic, started a fire in the pine forest, burned down the municipal dock at La Mata del Fang, and even attacked the office headquarters, where the library burned down. They left threatening graffiti: "The best biologist is a dead biologist," and things like that. They slashed his car tires on more than one occasion. Back then, many people must have imagined biologists with tails, horns, and tridents.

And Antonio Vizcaíno is a biologist, specializing in botany. Except for a three-year period when he was removed from his post, he has been head of the Devesa-Albufera Service for the Valencia City Council since 1995. However, he has worked in this office since its creation in 1981, initially as a monitor, leading school group tours, then as a mid-level technician, and later as a biologist, a position he obtained through competitive examination. His connection with L’Albufera began a little earlier, when Guillermo de Felipe, with whom he was working on land-use planning projects, asked him to develop the chapter on flora and vegetation for the Preliminary Studies for the Management of the Dehesa del Saler woodland.

Despite that brief hiatus, several of those interviewed for this book agree in praising Vizcaíno's skill in dealing with the political leaders of this municipal service. He certainly seems like a calm man. He speaks deliberately and hasn't lost the accent of his native Villena. He downplays his role: “I have to say that all the politicians I’ve worked with, whether through more or less conflict and financial contributions, all of them were very clear that this area had to be protected. The demands and achievements of the 1970s had taken root, and no one has ever questioned them.” Several of the people featured in this book also agree in highlighting the excellent work the office has done for the recovery and conservation of the La Devesa ecosystem and landscape. Much of the credit belongs to them.

La Devesa de l’Albufera is the coastal sandbar that lies between the lagoon and the sea, a natural paradise that almost succumbed to the rampant development. It is also the place where, every morning, from the beach, Vizcaíno photographs the sunrise. He never loses his wonder at this landscape. He gets up early out of passion and to keep an eye on this piece of land, and sea, that he feels is his own, something his office job often prevents him from doing.

We asked him about La Devesa and L’Albufera, specifically the lagoon, the two municipally owned areas whose management falls under the office's jurisdiction. He told us they have focused their efforts on the former, because little can be done in the lagoon and the reedbeds—aside from maintenance and conservation work—until the incoming water is of good quality. And here, since we're on the subject of the reedbeds, we'll make a point about their management: Although some advocate for controlled burns in the reedbeds to encourage the vegetation to regrow and take root more vigorously, Vizcaíno has observed that this practice—perfectly acceptable in another era, when reeds and bulrushes were economically exploited—harms plant species that cannot tolerate the increased soil salinity caused by fire. "In any case," he says, "it's an issue whose implications for the ecosystem would warrant a more detailed and long-term study."

He tells us about the major regeneration projects on the coastline: “The LIFE projects are the milestones, the ones that have given the service international prestige. It was the first time that dune restoration in Europe had been undertaken under the auspices of an official body and in a model way. Until then, in some areas of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean…”