The Government of the Canary Islands has initiated a second process of public information and consultation on the draft of the Plan for the Management of Natural Resources (PORN) of the Chinijo Archipelago and Famara that will last two months.
The regional Minister of the Area, José Antonio Valbuena, highlighted the "effort" being made by the Ministry to promote the participation of all parties involved. "Land management has multiple effects and for this reason we work to ensure that it is consensual, with the administrations and, something that is very important for us, with the citizens." In this sense, the Minister recalled that two meetings have recently been held with residents of La Graciosa and Caleta de Famara to learn about their assessments of the PORN, in addition to the technical meetings held with the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the City Council of Teguise.
The Deputy Minister of Territorial Planning, Leopoldo Díaz, pointed out that "once the allegations, reports, suggestions and observations collected during the public information and consultation process have been analyzed, the Plan drafting team held working meetings with the different administrations involved to jointly improve the drafting of the document. Likewise, a request for updated information was made to several administrations, which has led to an improvement of the document."
The PORN was already on public display
The Plan for the Management of Natural Resources of the Chinijo Archipelago and Famara was in the process of public information between June and October 2021, since in August the deadline was extended until October 4. Until December, reports were received from different administrations, such as the Spanish Office for Climate Change or the General Directorate of Coast and Sea.
In May of this year, a report was received from the General Directorate for the Fight against Climate Change and the Environment together with relevant information provided by the Biodiversity Service regarding the marine part of the scope.
During this time, meetings have been held with other departments of the Government of the Canary Islands to discuss issues such as the extractive activity of the Jable, marine biodiversity, fishing activity, or tourist activity and public use.
Technical working groups have also been organized with the affected administrations to share the information received, explain the scope of the PORN, the methodology used and the changes to be made to the document.
Leopoldo Díaz indicated that from the analysis and study of each and every one of the allegations, reports and observations, considerable changes have been generated that make up a new document. "As it is a document that has had a significant social impact and in order to ensure participation and general knowledge, we have considered it necessary to submit it to a new Public Information process."
