The EBA will be set up as a field station in the Albufera Natural Park. The proximity of this singular protected space to the city and, in particular, to the university will facilitate the scientific research related to the monitoring and improvement of wildlife species and natural habitats. These activities will be also linked to university teaching, knowledge dissemination and appreciation of nature and biodiversity.

It aims to promote biological research in the natural environment, its contribution to solving environmental problems, and the creation of tools for the management and conservation of the natural environment, with the results of the studies carried out. The biological station is also conceived as a teaching resource for undergraduate and postgraduate university studies, and as an element of dissemination, knowledge and awareness for society about the natural environment and its problems.

The Government and the Valencian Department of Agriculture undertake to make available the spaces and facilities they own within the natural park for the development of these objectives.   As stated by the Mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, “the Valencian City Council, as owner of the lagoon and the Devesa de la Albufera, wants to contribute to its scientific knowledge, and therefore enthusiastically joins the creation of the Albufera Biological Station, a proposal of the University of Valencia that now materialises through the approval of an agreement between the Government, the City Council and the University itself".

Knowledge and preservation

The Mayor explained that the new research centre has the mission of “moving forward with the knowledge of the natural values of our natural park”, and he pointed the Biological Station of Doñana as a model for the new Valencian Station. “L’Albufera is a natural heritage of incalculable value for the people of Valencia”, affirmed Ribó. “With this step taken by the three institutions, we continue to place the conservation of our most emblematic natural space at the centre, and we do so in collaboration with the academy", he said.

On the other hand, the councillor for Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition, Isaura Navarro, assured that "the environmental health and landscape conditions of l'Albufera and its surroundings have experienced a magnificent qualitative leap, which has been possible thanks to the conscious and protective involvement of the different administrations that work for its conservation, but also thanks to the responsibility of the citizens". Navarro assured that, "with this agreement that we are signing together with the Valencian City Council and the University of Valencia, we are taking another step forward in scientific research to enhance the value of one of the main natural jewels that we Valencians have".

Finally, the principal of the University of Valencia, Mavi Mestre, highlighted that the UV, “since its foundation by the city in 1499 has been committed to the study of its territory and environment”. “Now, she added, we take a step forward in the study of L’Albufera of Valencia with the creation of this Biological Station in a time that the permanent analysis of our ecosystem in the middle of a climate emergency is more than necessary, and at the same time, we place value on this natural environment for the knowledge of Valencians and to project its value to the world.

Mestre concluded by pointing out that the University of Valencia, with its numerous top-level research groups, is the third university in Spain in terms of research and one of the top one hundred in Europe. "A research potential for the preservation and future of the Albufera", she stressed.