 González @-@ Gordon was involved with conservationism from an early age ; he was also an avid bird watcher and would become an ornithologist . His family estate was located in the Coto Doñana , a wetland at the mouth of the river Guadalquivir , near Jerez de la Frontera , in southern Spain . Here González @-@ Gordon became interested in the local ecosystem and invited European ornithologists to visit the area . When two Spanish ornithologists , Professor Francisco Bernis and José Antonio Valverde visited , González @-@ Gordon served as their guide . The González @-@ Gordon family saw that the wetlands were threatened by the planting of eucalyptus trees and large @-@ scale drainage plans proposed by the government . Mauricio , together with his father , asked Bernis to try and influence Spanish dictator Francisco Franco into abandoning these proposals . The trio wrote a memorandum which was presented to Franco himself by Mauricio 's father Manuel . By November 1953 , Bernis had finished a report on the value of the Doñana , which showed that the area had exceptional ecological value . The group sought international support for their goals and found it . The efforts of González @-@ Gordon to dissuade Franco exposed him to some danger , but the Franco government conceded and the drainage plans were aborted . 
