The Tenerife botanist Wolfredo Wildpret de la Torre, emeritus professor of the University of La Laguna (ULL) and Canary Islands Award for Research and Innovation in 2011, has passed away this Friday at the age of 92, according to the academic institution, which has highlighted his fundamental contributions to the study of the flora and vegetation of the Canary Islands.
Born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1933, Wildpret was a graduate and doctor in Pharmacy from the Complutense University of Madrid with outstanding cum laude and Extraordinary Degree Award, as detailed by the ULL in a statement.
He spent most of his career at the University of La Laguna, where he served as a full professor and later as professor emeritus after more than three decades of teaching and research activity, until his retirement in 2003.
His/Her main field of research was the taxonomic and syntaxonomic study of the flora and vegetation of the Canary Islands, an area in which he/she participated in more than fifty research projects and published more than 200 scientific articles in specialized journals.
Also directed 20 doctoral theses and more than 40 undergraduate theses, adds the note.
Upon his return to Tenerife in 1960, he participated in the creation of the Biological Sciences section of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of La Laguna, promoting the implementation of phytosociological studies and the training of several generations of researchers dedicated to the knowledge of the archipelago's flora.
Among other distinctions, he was doctor honoris causa in Natural Sciences by Leibniz University of Hannover (Germany) and received in 2018 the Reinhold Tüxen Award from the German Association of Geobotany.
In addition to his academic activity, Wildpret stood out for his commitment to the defense of the natural environment in the archipelago.
He was a founding member and first president of the environmental organization ATAN (Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature) and was part since 1983 of the board of trustees of Teide National Park.
He also belonged to institutions such as the Institute of Canarian Studies, the César Manrique Foundation, the Canarian Museum, the Royal Academy of Medicine of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Canarian Academy of Sciences, among other scientific and cultural corporations.
The Cabildo of Lanzarote, through the Biosphere Reserve Area, held an emotional tribute a year ago in the Villa de Teguise to the botanist and naturalist Wolfredo Wildpret de la Torre -for years a member of the Biosphere Reserve Council (1996-2009)- in recognition of his career and his valuable contribution to the scientific research and dissemination of the natural heritage of the Canary Islands.
