Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2009
In 1978, Bernd-Ulrich and Christiane Meyburg reported in Oryx the efforts to safeguard a very special area of Extremadura in Western Spain. On 4 April 1979, 17,582 hectares was designated as a Parque Natural (a nature park or reserve) by the Government. Perhaps readers of the Meyburgs' article, especially those who responded to its appeal for moral and financial support, would hail this as a great success for conservation in Spain: but there is much more to the story than that …