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It is not every day that a town council announces it is doubling its donkey herd, but Sóller in Mallorca has done exactly that. The Ayuntamiento has expanded its natural stream-cleaning programme this summer to include twelve donkeys, twice the number deployed last year, following positive results from the initiative's first trial run.

 

The animals, supplied by the Natura Parc Foundation, are being introduced gradually to different urban waterways throughout Sóller, where they graze on the reed beds and vegetation growing within the stream channels. The idea is simple and surprisingly effective: by reducing the plant growth naturally over the summer, the subsequent mechanical clearing work needed before the autumn rains becomes significantly less intensive and less disruptive to the environment.

 

The scheme was launched last summer by councillor Antònia Frau, with the first trial taking place in the Biniaraix stream. The results were clear enough that the Ayuntamiento has decided to extend it to other sections of the town's waterways this year.

 

Spain has been embracing the idea of using animals rather than machinery for environmental management in several regions. Last year, donkeys were already being deployed in areas including Ourense, León and the Doñana National Park, where specially trained animals were used to create natural firebreaks in high-risk forest zones.

 

In Sóller, the focus is on water rather than fire, but the underlying logic is the same: animals can reach places and carry out tasks that machinery cannot, with far less environmental impact. The Ayuntamiento's Environment Department notes that the system reduces the use of heavy equipment, minimises disruption to the waterway ecosystem and keeps the channels more accessible for ongoing maintenance.

 

The twelve donkeys will remain in the streams throughout the summer and return to the Natura Parc facilities when the rainy season begins. Grazing does not replace mechanical clearing entirely, but it reduces the scale of the work needed considerably.

 

It is, when you think about it, an elegantly low-tech solution to a very practical problem.

 

 

Image: Esdy/Pixabay and Ayuntamiento de Sóller